


Seeker

by rosethrn



Series: the better feeling of my heart [1]
Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gilbert Blythe is Whipped, Gilbert is a stud, Slow Burn, but not that slow, the harry potter au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23541100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosethrn/pseuds/rosethrn
Summary: Anne finds it particularly difficult to ignore Gilbert Blythe on the morning of the Ravenclaw/Gryffindor match, especially when it seems he is more focused on impressing her than actually catching the golden snitch.
Relationships: Cole Mackenzie/Original Male Character(s), Diana Barry/Jerry Baynard, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Ruby Gillis/Moody Spurgeon MacPherson
Series: the better feeling of my heart [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722289
Comments: 147
Kudos: 471





	1. Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw

"Anne, put the book down!" Diana said, disgruntled, practically pushing Anne's herbology textbook out of her lap. 

"Well now I've lost my place," Anne replied, scrambling to open back up to a particularly interesting section about the dizzying effects of puffapods. 

It was a beautiful morning, which was partially the reason that Anne had been convinced to attend the Quidditch match which was due to start any minute now. While she was fairly intrigued by the wizard sport, Anne was usually far more concerned with her overwhelming workload to even consider walking all the way out to the pitch to watch a whole Quidditch game. But this year, Cole had made the team as a Chaser, so Anne had made space in her schedule accordingly to come out to support him. Not that she couldn't catch up on a bit of work before the game actually started.

This match would be Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor, and while Anne knew how much the Ravenclaw team had been preparing (she had witnessed Cole lumbering back into the common room after hours of early-morning practice), she had a nervous twinge in her stomach. The Gryffindor team this year was stronger than it had been her whole time at Hogwarts, thanks to their unfairly quick Seeker. 

Golden boy Gilbert Blythe had been recruited in his second year after practicing with the team during his first - which was totally unheard of. He had been made captain at the start of his fourth year. The boy was good at Quidditch, even Anne had to admit that, but it hardly helped the fact that he was entirely insufferable. Anne had the misfortune of knowing him since her very first year at Hogwarts. They had met in the crowd of first years on the way to be sorted, and she had almost decided that she liked the boy until they reached the Great Hall. Anne was sorted into Ravenclaw, and Gilbert had loudly requested to the hat that he be sorted into the same house as that cute girl "Carrots." The whole school erupted in giggles and whispers as Anne's ears burned brighter than her red hair. Gilbert was sorted into Gryffindor anyways, and Anne preferred it that way - clearly they were not to be friends.

In their second year, she had regrettably been paired with him during Potions after Snape caught Anne letting Diana copy the homework she had forgotten when they were supposed to be brewing a Sleeping Draught. He had taken five points from Ravenclaw and split up the best friends, leaving Anne partnered with Gilbert. She was so angry that she hardly spoke to him. In response, Gilbert threw nettles into their cauldron when her back was turned, sending colorful sparks shooting from their cauldron across the classroom and infuriating Anne, who declared that he couldn't take anything seriously. (Diana tried to explain to Anne that he was trying to catch her attention, to which Anne would just huff and say how glad she was that Gilbert was getting three weeks of detention as punishment.)

Then there had been the time in their fourth year that they had bickered so much in Charms that Flitwick gave them _both_ detention, and they had spent a horribly long night together after Filch locked them in the trophy room. She ranted for weeks afterwards to Cole and Diana, or really anyone who would listen, about how insolent and careless he was. But she wouldn’t even admit to Diana that she had almost enjoyed being around him when he wasn’t showing off to his friends or mouthing off to teachers.

Regardless, Anne wasn’t about to let her rivalry with Gilbert get in the way of watching Cole’s first Quidditch match. She and Diana had arrived early to secure the best seats at the front of the Ravenclaw stands, with a few other Ravenclaws - Charlie and Ka’kwet, who were also fifth years, and Prissy, who was a seventh year and Ravenclaw prefect. 

By now the stands were full and the excited chatter filled the pitch as both teams took the field, Cole and the Ravenclaws in blue robes as Gilbert led the Gryffindor team out in their scarlet robes. Anne squinted to see - Charlie was hogging the binoculars - Gilbert shaking hands with the Ravenclaw captain, a sixth year girl that Anne had only spoken to a couple times. 

“Does he look nervous?” Anne asked anxiously, looking over to Charlie who was flashing his binoculars around the pitch, watching each of the players.

“Does who look nervous?”

“Cole, of course!” 

Anne pulled the binoculars out of Charlie’s hands and located Cole on the field. He looked confident, preparing to kick off the ground as Madam Hooch readied her whistle. Anne drifted the binoculars left to see Gilbert whispering some last minute words of advice to his Keeper, Jerry Baynard, a tall skinny boy with dark hair. Gilbert had gotten taller over the summer, and his shoulders had broadened. He looked much more mature than Anne remembered him looking last year. 

“So, Anne? Does Cole look ready?” inquired Ka’kwet. Anne jerked the binoculars down.

“Y-yes,” she stammered, “Of course he does.”

“Good,” Diana nodded confidently. “We could really use the win to start us out strong. I think we’ve got a good shot at the Quidditch cup this year.”

The other Ravenclaws were murmuring agreement when the whistle came clear through the air. Both teams kicked off from the ground, now whizzing through the air as little scarlet and blue blurs. 

Moody Spurgeon, a dark haired and likeable Hufflepuff boy, was announcing for the match. Anne remembered him being a bit clumsy and awkward in his first few years at Hogwarts, but he had grown much taller between third and fourth year, and was now quite a talented wizard. He was friends with Charlie, so Anne had occasionally seen him around the school.

Now, Moody’s voice echoed across the pitch. “That’s second year Delphine Lacroix of Ravenclaw with the Quaffle to start the match, quite a quick one, and a new recruit for Ravenclaw this year. She’s now passed to Cole Mackenzie, also his first match, he’s dodged a Bludger there and is now looking at a clear path to score. Agh - a great steal by Jane Andrews, and now Gryffindor possession. She’s rocketing across the pitch now, must have one of those new model brooms - OUCH! She’s taken a Bludger to her arm, dropped the Quaffle - and it’s retrieved again by Delphine Lacroix, who passes it to Mackenzie - he’s made a great move to fake out the Gryffindor keeper - RAVENCLAW SCORES!” 

Anne cheered loudly as Cole streaked across the pitch again. She could see his smile from where she was standing. She glanced upward to see Gilbert circling above the pitch with a frown. For some reason, she deflated slightly at the sight, but she quickly turned her attention back to Cole. Charlie was whooping and Ka’kwet and Diana brandished a large blue banner with Cole’s name and Quidditch number painted in shiny bronze lettering. 

Gryffindor scored twice after that, courtesy of Jane Andrews and Helena Armstrong. Delphine managed to score once after that, and the Ravenclaw captain Alice Penhallow blocked another shot by Jane. But after that, the score remained at 20 - 20 for several minutes as the Chasers got caught in a sort of stalemate. 

Anne looked up again to see if Miles Lauer, the Ravenclaw seeker, had had any luck locating the snitch. He didn’t seem to, because he was watching the Chasers with rapt attention. 

When Anne looked over to Gilbert, she almost thought he'd caught her eye. She felt something strange in her stomach, like she was nervous - until he suddenly started rocketing towards her on his broom. 

Now Anne was definitely nervous. Gilbert was flying straight at her, wind whipping his dark hair and his hazel eyes flashing with both determination and mischief. Anne felt the Ravenclaws around her parting wildly. Obviously everyone thought Gilbert was about to topple over half the Ravenclaw student section, with the speed he was going. 

Anne, paralyzed, watched as Gilbert tipped his broom up, now only meters away, his hand outstretched. He slowed gracefully, his arm grazing her cheek as he reached towards her… no, not towards her… _past her?_

As if her senses had awoken again, Anne was suddenly aware of a soft buzzing beside her ear. The golden snitch. Was it even allowed to be in the student section? Not that there was any order to the way the snitch flew wildly around the field. “‘Scuse me, Shirley,” Gilbert breathed, winking at her as his hand closed around the whizzing ball, turning his broom up and around in an effortless flip and shooting back towards the field. 

Anne’s felt her face heating up where Gilbert’s hand had brushed her cheek. Surely he could’ve avoided touching her, he was the best flyer at Hogwarts. She shivered, deciding hotly that he had done it to embarrass her yet again. But as he was paraded off the field with the rest of Gryffindor, she could’ve sworn he caught her eye again, the smile on his face not malicious or derisive but genuine and warm. Anne felt a little dizzy.

Diana rushed back to her side. She had dived awkwardly onto Charlie, and blushing furiously, they had both scrambled back to their feet. “Anne, are you okay? Why didn’t you move?” she shouted over the applause of the Gryffindors. 

“I-I don’t know. I thought he was about to take my head off.”

“Some flyer, that boy,” Diana commented with a sigh of half admiration and half disappointment. “And he definitely has taken a liking to you,” she added under her breath as they headed down to console an exhausted Cole as he emerged from the Ravenclaw team room.

Anne rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the exciting beating of her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I messed with the ages of characters but I just wanted to include as many as I could! If anyone wants me to continue this I'd love to so just comment and let me know if you want me to write more!


	2. The Exploding Letter

By the next week, Anne had forgotten about the Quidditch match and was instead focusing on the rather excessive amount of Transfiguration homework that McGonagall had assigned. She kept running through the wand motions during breakfast, murmuring incantations under her breath to practice until Cole slapped her hand down.

“Honestly, Anne, you need a hobby,” he said, biting into a blueberry muffin. Diana giggled.

“I’m just trying to prepare. I mean, you do know that this year is going to be much harder, not to mention the OWLs at the end of the year. There’s so much left to learn. Just imagine how much we’re going to know by the end of this year,” Anne mused.

“My head’s still empty from summer,” Charlie replied from across the table, buttering a croissant that had appeared on a platter in front of them. “I don’t expect those marks to be anything worth writing home about.”

Even Anne smiled lightly at this, and was about to discuss her thoughts about what they’d be learning this morning in Herbology when the post arrived. Hundreds of owls came soaring in to greet the students with parcels clasped in their beaks and letters tied to their legs. 

Diana’s beautiful snowy owl Adelia arrived to drop off a book she’d left at home, and along with it came a long message scrawled on expensive looking paper. “Ugh, Mother again, nagging about plans for after Hogwarts. Can you believe her?”

Anne shook her head. Diana’s mother had always been a handful, but beyond that, Diana was from a pureblooded family with somewhat antiquated ideas of the life suited for a witch after she completed her studies. 

“‘ _You should be thinking of your future, and the proper way to carry on the Barry name_ ,’” Diana imitated in a lofty voice. “I mean _honestly,_ I’m not even graduating for two more years! It’s like she wants me to plan it all now.”

“Well, we already know you’ll be travelling the world with me,” Anne said brightly. She could see Gilbert and Jerry had attracted a crowd at the Gryffindor table opening a suspicious looking parcel that could have only been some sort of practical joke. 

She ignored the laughter from their table, reaching up as her own owl came fluttering down. Edmund was a significantly scrawnier and smaller barn owl she had received from her adoptive parents when she got into Hogwarts. Matthew and Marilla were Muggles, and were supportive of Anne’s studies, but a little perplexed by the magical world. Marilla would not allow for magic to be used in her household, so over the summers Anne was more than used to doing everything the old fashioned way. She loved it all the same.

Tied to Edmund’s leg was a small note, which Anne retrieved as he nibbled at her toast. She recognized Marilla’s loopy handwriting immediately:

_Dear Anne,_

_We hope the start of term has been well for you. Matthew and I miss you dearly. Although Mrs. Lynde does her best to fill your void, there is a certain absence of loquacity here at Green Gables without you._

_We also wanted to write to you about the recent events with the Ministry. We have been receiving the Daily Prophet and are quite concerned. We ask that you be especially careful and responsible, and trust that you are in good hands with Headmaster Dumbledore._

_Love always,  
Marilla _

Anne showed Diana and Cole the letter immediately. “What Ministry events?”

As if on cue, Charlie shoved the paper into her hands that had been passed down the Ravenclaw table in hushed voices. Across the top of the paper, the signature “Daily Prophet” was printed in big bold letters. Underneath, the headline read: “Double murder of Ministry officials leaves Fudge scrambling” - and, scanning to the end of the article, Anne’s heart dropped - “culprit unknown and potentially still at large.”

Diana, who had been reading over Anne’s shoulder, gave a sort of strangled gasp. “Two murders? And within the ministry? That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Maybe it was some kind of… accident?” Cole offered with uncertainty.

“What kind of accident leaves two important Ministry wizards in different places dead in one night?” Charlie retorted, shaking his head. He leaned in closer, his eyes grim. “Dad says he thinks it’s the work of a dark wizard.”

“Who could do that?” Ka’kwet said in a small voice. 

“It doesn’t matter. We’re perfectly safe here at Hogwarts as long as Dumbledore is around. Besides, I bet they’ve got loads of people working to find whoever did this,” Anne stood up, putting a comforting hand on Ka’kwet’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, and they’ll be in Azkaban before they get away with anything else,” Cole added.

But as the group headed off to Herbology, Anne felt an undeniable uncertainty that this may be more serious than any of them knew. 

* * *

Herbology was a disaster. Professor Sprout’s students were so occupied with the recent news that four students dropped their Puffapod beans all over the floor, leaving them scattering and blooming everywhere. Anne and Cole were working with Moody and his girlfriend, Ruby Gillis, who was also a Hufflepuff.

“Ruby’s mum works with the Ministry,” Moody commented to them in a low voice. “Says things aren’t looking good at the moment.”

“She works in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Moody. It’s not like she’s working on the case,” Ruby said, a tremor of worry in her voice. 

“Don’t worry, Ruby,” Anne said reassuringly, flashing a look at Moody. “This will all be sorted out before we know it.” 

Professor Sprout billowed past, cleaning the messes the students had made with an irritated flick of her wand. There was an awkward silence that followed, then Moody, who could always be counted on to fill a silence, coughed and spoke.

“That was quite a Quidditch match last week, Cole. You were great,” he smiled halfheartedly.

“Not great enough,” Cole muttered darkly, suddenly reliving the Ravenclaw loss. “Blythe is just too quick. Doesn’t even give our Chasers a chance.”

“And did you see how he caught the Snitch? Well I know you did Anne, he practically bowled you over. Dreamy, isn’t he - oh come off it Moody, he is - I’m sure loads of girls would have positively died if they were in your place!” Ruby gushed with a giggle. 

“I’m sure,” Anne said hotly, looking back down at the textbook to hide her embarrassment. 

Anne guessed that by the time she, Cole, and Diana had made it down to Defense Against the Dark Arts, the school had adjusted to the Ministry news, because it had left the minds of most of the students by now. The only problem was that Anne would have to see Gilbert during this class, which was shared with the Gryffindors. 

Sure enough, Jerry and Gilbert had attracted some bystanders as they tested out the Hiccough Sweets that Jerry had received in his parcel this morning. Anne brushed past them distastefully, pulling Diana behind her, who wanted to stop to watch. 

She pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, excited for this lesson. Professor Stacy was her favorite teacher at Hogwarts. She had been on fascinating and roguish adventures that even Anne with her vast imagination couldn’t dream up. She had started working at Hogwarts in Anne’s first year, and became immediately popular for actually letting her students practice magic rather than read out of textbooks all class like the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. 

Professor Stacy entered the classroom, rushing to the front and turning to greet her students. “Ahem - that’s quite enough Mr. Blythe and Mr. Baynard, take your seats.”

Gilbert and Jerry sat in the seats across the aisle from Anne and Diana’s desk. Anne made sure not to even turn her head slightly in his direction, although she could tell he had given her a sideways glance as he sat down. 

“Thank you. Well, class, since we have just concluded our study of werewolves, I thought our wands could use some dusting off,” Professor Stacy said with a smile. “Today we will be practicing the Reductor curse, which can be particularly tricky, but I have a feeling you can handle it.” She winked.

“I’d like you all to first practice the motion” - she gave a firm flick of her wand as demonstration - “ _without_ the incantation, I’m looking at you Mr. Baynard, and then we’ll see about practicing with some real targets. Go on.”

The classroom filled with chatter as the students began practicing the flick of their wands. 

“Are you really not going to even talk to him, Anne?” Diana whispered beside her. “Are you just unsure of what to say? I know a lot of people find him quite intimidating, but-”

“Diana, I love you, but have you considered that maybe I’m not quite as taken with Gilbert Blythe as everyone seems to think I should be?” Anne hissed, flicking her wand meaningfully. “Besides, if he wants to speak to me, he should be civilized about it and quit being so showy all the time.”

As if on cue, a piece of paper fluttered over from Gilbert’s direction. It was a perfectly folded paper swan, bewitched to glide gracefully through the air. Anne crumpled it up and went back to practicing. 

“I mean, seriously, what more evidence do you need? He can’t just come up to me without making it something that every girl in the school talks to me about for weeks after.”

“Because they’re jealous that the only girl that can catch his eye is you?”

“Would you give it a rest, Diana?” Anne said, her frustration bubbling to the surface. “Maybe he just torments me ‘cause he's rude, not because he’s harboring feelings for me.”

“Maybe if you’d opened that note, you’d realize I’m right,” Diana prodded back. 

Anne felt her cheeks getting hot with anger. Why was Diana pushing this so much? She of course wanted Anne to be happy, but why did everyone else seem to think they knew how she felt?

Another paper swan glided through the air at her, and Anne, without thinking, pointed her wand directly at it.

“ _Reducto!_ ” she shouted, and it burst into flaming shrapnel. 

“Anne! I said wand movements, only, did I not?” Professor Stacy called sternly. 

Before Anne even had a chance to speak, Gilbert interjected. “I provoked her, Professor, it was my fault.” 

“Both of you stay after class! And you can both sit out during this part, as I expect you’ve had plenty of practice with this spell now, haven’t you?” She looked pointedly at Anne, then directed the rest of the students to line up at the front of the classroom, where she had cleared a space for them. 

When the class had begun practicing and it was just Anne and Gilbert sitting sullenly at the back, she finally turned to face him. His hazel eyes looked more green than brown today, and Anne might have found them nice to look at if she wasn’t so angry. 

“Do you fancy getting me in trouble or something?” she hissed.

“I fancy getting a second look from you,” he responded evenly, although looking more apologetic when he met her piercing eyes. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble, but you didn’t exactly have to incinerate my note, either.”

“I didn’t - why do you have to make a show of everything, Gilbert Blythe? You could’ve just spoken to me like a normal person.”

“I would have, had you given me a single chance since we were eleven.”

“Quiet, you two,” Professor Stacy said from the front of the class before turning her attention back to Charlie, who had said the incantation wrong and sent the vase he was supposed to destroy whirring in circles. 

She supposed Gilbert was right on that, but she didn’t feel in the mood to concede, so she instead opened a book and angrily read whatever was on that page as she waited for class to end and Professor Stacy to come tell her again how disappointing she was. 

When it finally did, Diana and Cole gave Anne a sympathetic glance as they left, probably off to enjoy the beautiful day now that their classes were finished. Anne was left alone with Gilbert and Professor Stacy, who was approaching her with a disappointed look. 

“Can you two do without creating trouble in my classroom on such a regular basis? Mr. Blythe, it’s lucky you’re bright, because with the lack of attention you give this class sometimes it’s a wonder you’re still passing. And Ms. Shirley, do I not always make my directions crystal clear? You could have damaged something important!”

Anne felt her heart sinking. Gilbert shifted uncomfortably beside her. 

“I consider you two my best students. I hope you start proving me right on that, because right now you most certainly are not. Dismissed.” 

Anne got up quickly, picked up her things and tried to avoid Gilbert on her way out. Unfortunately, his legs were much longer, and he caught up to her easily. She picked up her pace.

“Anne - Anne would you at least let me apologize to your face and not the back of your head?”

She stopped, whipping around to face him. “I hope you’re happy with yourself. Now you’ve made a fool of both of us. Why don’t you just do us both a favor, Gilbert, and torment some other girl!” she practically shouted.

Anne turned on her heel and strode away, ignoring the guilt in the pit of her stomach as she left him standing there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I was not expecting so many people to comment on the first chapter! Thank you so much for leaving your thoughts! It's because of those messages that I'm continuing this! I have more of a plan for the overarching story now, but let me know your thoughts in the comments because I really value them. thanks again <3


	3. Azkaban

Anne didn’t see Gilbert at breakfast the next morning, and he was noticeably absent from Potions that afternoon. She shook this off, certain that it had nothing to do with her, but feeling as if she had been a little sharper than she meant the day before. 

But if it was a pity party Gilbert wanted, Anne would definitely not oblige. She reminded herself again that he had brought it upon himself, and would have probably done it again if she hadn’t told him off. Still, it clearly had been occupying her mind, because she accidentally cut her lacewings instead of crushing them, leaving Snape to glower at her as she requested new ones. 

Tonight was Halloween, as the Gryffindor ghost Nearly Headless Nick reminded them cheerily as Anne, Diana, and Cole made their way to the Great Hall for the feast. They dodged Peeves on the way, a particularly mischievous ghost that treated Halloween as an excuse to torment the students with “innocent” practical jokes. He had taken a liking to floating through unsuspecting students as they tried to make their way through the corridors, sending an ice cold sensation down their spines as they hurried away.

The Great Hall had been adorned with beautifully elaborate Halloween decorations. The ceiling, bewitched to appear like a night sky, was inky black and starless, with only the moon shining down. Pumpkins lined the hall, with two enormous ones on either side of the teachers’ table at the head of the hall. They were crudely carved, and charmed to move. One stuck its tongue out at Anne as she passed. 

“I heard Gilbert didn’t attend any of his classes today,” Cole said as they took their seats at the Ravenclaw table. Anne wished that he would stop coming up all the time, but gossip spread like wildfire at Hogwarts.

“Moody reckons he saw him going to speak privately to Dumbledore in his office,” Charlie added as he plopped down beside Cole across from Anne and Diana. “Bet you 10 Sickles that they finally caught him and Jerry using that secret passageway out of the castle.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Diana said evenly. “I doubt Dumbledore would be speaking to Gilbert unless something serious was happening. He’s a busy wizard.”

Anne nodded, but her interest was piqued. What _did_ Gilbert do to result in a private word with the Headmaster? Dumbledore was absent from the teacher’s table where Hagrid and McGonagall were speaking, looking serious. 

The Great Hall had filled up with students, all hungry and ready for the Halloween feast to begin. But just as the plates were about to fill with food, an owl came swooping down.

It was Pollux, Charlie’s owl. He dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet at his plate. “Post?” Charlie questioned. “It’s not supposed to come at this hour.”

Suddenly tens more owls came rushing into the hall, each carrying the same thing: a freshly printed copy of the Daily Prophet. Anne and the other Ravenclaws bent forward over Charlie’s copy, bumping each other aside to read the headline that was seemingly so important that it couldn’t even wait until the next morning.

“No way.”

“Is it true?”

“He’s not here at the feast… it must be!”

At the top of the paper, printed in unmistakable bold letters: **_JOHN BLYTHE SENT TO AZKABAN IN CONNECTION TO MINISTRY MURDERS_**. Another Ministry official had been killed, and at the scene of the crime was none other than Gilbert’s father.

“That… that’s impossible,” Cole said, shaking his head furiously. “He works for the Ministry! And in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, no less!”

“So Dumbledore was telling Gilbert that his father’s been sent to _Azkaban?!_ ” Diana said incredulously.

“That can’t be right,” Anne put in. “What possible motive could he have?”

“Money, power, greed,” Charlie listed off, shaking his head. He looked over to the Gryffindor table, which was speaking in hushed voices of disbelief. Jerry Baynard looked distraught. “I tell you, you can’t trust anyone. It’s always the ones you least expect.”

“Oh, shut it, Charlie,” Anne hissed. “They haven’t proven anything.”

“‘Found standing over Clarisse Fairchild’s dead body?’” Charlie read from the article. “She's a Ministry big shot! That doesn’t exactly scream ‘innocent’ to me, Anne.”

“Gilbert must be devastated,” Diana said distantly, and Anne felt her heart sinking. It was unimaginable, thinking of your parent being sent to Azkaban - even if they were guilty, which Anne was sure John Blythe was not. 

The plates filled with food suddenly, although Anne had lost her appetite. The others filled their plates with the mountains of beef brisket, mashed potatoes, and garlic bread that had appeared on platters before them, everyone still whispering about the news. She tried not to think about Gilbert or his father, picking at some stew that Diana had coaxed her to put on her plate. 

Suddenly, Dumbledore came sweeping into the Great Hall, looking rather serious. The chatter in the room died down slowly as he made his way to the front and turned to address the students.

“ _Sonorus_ ,” he said, pointing his wand to his mouth, and suddenly his voice was amplified across the hall. “Students, if I may interrupt the feast for a moment, I’m afraid I have some news.”

He stared down his crooked nose at the students, his eyes missing their usual twinkle. “I have been in close contact with our Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge concerning the events that I am sure you are all aware of by now.

“The Minister assures me that the Ministry has arrested an individual linked to these crimes,” Dumbledore added grimly.

“Yeah, John Blythe!” someone called out.

“The Blythes are liars!” 

“ _Silence_ ,” Dumbledore commanded. The voices stopped. “I would note that these crimes are likely the work of a Dark wizard, and that these circumstances almost definitely go beyond the arrest of one man. Regardless, I would warn any assumptive students not to jump to conclusions on the matter of his innocence or _anyone’s_ here at Hogwarts.”

He was clearly talking about Gilbert. He was liked by everybody, but with the entire school on edge, some students would definitely be wary of him now. 

“That matter aside, enjoy the feast,” Dumbledore said. He waved his hand, and desserts replaced the empty platters. The buzz of conversation filled the hall again. Charlie and Cole shoveled treacle tarts onto their plates and Diana filled her plate with chocolate pudding. Anne watched Dumbledore step back to the teacher’s table to discuss with McGonagall, their faces solemn.

“Fudge is wrong about this,” Anne insisted quietly, unsure if she was convincing the others or herself.

* * *

The pitch was soaking wet when Anne and Diana arrived at the Quidditch match that Saturday morning. It was Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff, and the stands were more packed than usual. Gilbert Blythe hadn’t been seen since the news had broken at the Halloween feast, and even Jerry, who lived in the dorm with him, wouldn’t tell anyone what was going on. But it was unlike Gilbert to miss a Quidditch match.

“Everyone will be wondering whether golden boy Blythe’s gone evil, I expect,” Charlie mumbled as he teetered on the stands beside Diana. “Maybe he’ll hex a few of the Hufflepuff Quidditch players if they cross him.”

“Shut up, Charlie,” Diana muttered in response. Anne remained quiet, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the pelting rain. 

The Hufflepuffs were out on the field now, led by Ruby, who captained the team as a Chaser. She was huddling with her team, all clad in their yellow robes with the hoods up to protect from the storm. 

The Gryffindor team emerged suddenly. Gilbert was first out, looking grave. Anne raised Charlie’s binoculars to see him more closely. He had dark rings around his eyes and appeared somber but determined. 

“It’ll be a tough match either way, with this weather,” Cole commented as a thunderclap sounded through the stadium. Anne shivered nervously. 

Madam Hooch’s whistle sounded and the teams kicked off the ground, Jane Andrews and Ruby Gillis facing off immediately for the Quaffle.

Moody lightened the mood a bit, working some not-so-subtle quips about his girlfriend into his commentary which earned him a whack on the head from Professor Snape behind him. The Gryffindor Chasers were faster, though, and between Jane Andrews and Michael Finnigan, they were soon up 30-10. 

Gilbert looked entirely out of focus. He was hardly fazed by his team scoring, whizzing around the pitch in search of the Snitch. It was as if his senses were entirely blocked out - something was definitely wrong.

As Jane put the Quaffle through the hoops again, Moody’s voice suddenly boomed, “Blythe’s seen the Snitch!” 

Sure enough, Gilbert was racing alongside the Hufflepuff Seeker, just a few feet ahead of her. In front of him was a golden flash of light, glinting through the rain.

“He’s seen the Snitch this early?” Cole shouted over the storm in surprise.

The Seekers swooped past the stands. A couple of Slytherins shouted at them as they passed. 

“What are they saying?” Anne yelled, her voice drowned out.

“Something about his father, I think,” Diana responded worriedly.

Sure enough, Gilbert’s face twisted with a sudden fury and he dove recklessly at the Snitch, almost as if trying to prove himself. His broom, slick with rain, slipped downwards and he was knocked against the side of the arena, falling at least fifteen feet to the ground. 

The Hufflepuff Seeker, now unopposed, seized the Snitch.

“Hufflepuff wins!” Moody announced halfheartedly, but hardly anyone was listening. Everyone in the stands was craning their necks to watch as the teachers rushed over to where Gilbert was lying motionless on the ground.

“Oh my god,” Diana whispered. 

“Is he alright?” Anne breathed.

A few Gryffindors hurried down to where Gilbert was. They lifted his arms over their shoulders - Anne stopped holding her breath as she saw him looking pained but okay - and hurried back to the castle’s hospital wing. 

The game was over practically before it had even begun. The Ravenclaws filed out, fairly grumpy that they had all hoofed it out here in the thunderstorm to watch just five minutes of Quidditch. Anne followed Diana anxiously back to the castle, Gilbert’s fall replaying in her head. If only she had gone easy on him earlier, she wouldn’t be feeling guilty at all. But now, she realized she had just put even more on his plate than he already had to deal with.

Returning to the Ravenclaw common room, Anne and Cole passed the next few hours doing their Arithmancy and Charms homework. Complicated numerical charts were spread all around the table in front of them, and Cole had been flicking his wand around practicing the newest Charms spell for an hour. The busywork was good for Anne; she found it helpful in clearing her mind.

“Anne, are you all right?” Cole asked without looking up from the chart he was scanning. “You’ve been acting sort of strange since Halloween.”

“Fine,” Anne responded rather quickly. “Just… all this Ministry stuff.”

“You’re worried about him?”

Anne met his gaze but found that he wasn’t trying to be suggestive. Instead his blue eyes were curious.

“Well, yes,” Anne said carefully. “But not because it’s _him_. Because what’s happening to him is horrible.”

“You’re right,” Cole agreed, turning the page of a large textbook. “I’m worried too. I think he’s about to find out who his real friends are.”

* * *

The common room emptied early that night. Most people were a bit spooked about what was happening and had started going to bed hours before curfew. While Anne enjoyed the silence of the common room to work, it got a bit lonely after a while, and she decided she may visit Professor Stacy.

She walked the halls alone, which were eerily quiet at this hour. Thinking about her day tomorrow, the classes she had to prepare for, and how Matthew and Marilla must be worrying at home, she became suddenly unaware of her surroundings and found herself walking straight past Professor Stacy’s room and to the hospital wing. She wanted to clear her conscience anyways. Luckily, Madam Pomfrey was curiously absent, because she surely wouldn’t have let Anne in so late.

Only one bed was occupied. Anne approached quietly, unsure if Gilbert was asleep already. As she moved closer, she realized his eyes were closed, but his brow was creased as though he was thinking hard about something. She was about to turn around and leave, but found herself staring at his arm, which had been wrapped into a sling.

“Carrots, it’s rude to stare,” he mumbled sleepily, his eyes fluttering open. 

For some reason, the nickname didn’t have its usual effect on her. She stepped towards the edge of his bed. “Are you feeling okay?”

Gilbert, using his good arm, heaved himself up so he was sitting up against the frame of the bed. He met her eyes. “Don’t look at me like that, Anne.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re sorry for me,” he scoffed. “I think I liked it better when you were furious.”

“There’s a difference between pity and concern,” Anne huffed. Gilbert raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“I’m not anyone’s charity case,” he grumbled in response. 

Anne bristled, but stood her ground. “Not everyone believes it, you know. What Fudge is saying. It doesn’t add up.”

“Well, Fudge is a coward and a liar,” he said bitterly. He looked up at her, as if realizing the sourness of his tone. “But thanks.”

Anne sat at the edge of his bed. “And about what I said last week…”

“Don’t apologize for that, Anne.”

“No, I am sorry. Well, I mean, not exactly, you were being _especially_ annoying,” - Gilbert cracked a wry smile - “But I didn’t mean what I said.”

“So now what? Are you actually saying we might be friends now?” 

Anne rolled her eyes and was about to speak when the doors burst open.

“Excuse me, what exactly do you think you’re doing in here?” Madam Pomfrey whisked across the room towards them. She was carrying a large bottle of what looked and smelled like some disgusting kind of medicinal concoction. She had probably been retrieving it from Snape when Anne snuck in. “He needs rest, _out!”_

“Of course,” Anne said hurriedly as she left, glancing over her shoulder at Gilbert apologetically for getting him in trouble. 

He didn’t look annoyed at all. In fact, for the first time in a week, he nearly looked happy. 


	4. The Secret Boy

Anne always loved November at Hogwarts. The trees, just before shedding their leaves, went brilliant shades of orange and crimson. Anne could swear that they danced as they fell to the ground. She spent long hours outside, puzzling out her homework with Cole or Diana while the weather still permitted it. 

And, occasionally, Anne would work on Defense Against the Dark Arts or Potions homework with Gilbert in the library. For a week or so after Halloween, he had been subject to whispers and staring in the corridors, but after a long period without any action in the Ministry case, people had gone back to normal. Anne enjoyed having Gilbert to sit quietly with, or to ask questions about the long essays that Professor Stacy had begun assigning. She had been right that they were quite the intellectual match, and Anne found herself surprised with how intelligent he was when he was actually focused. 

One Friday afternoon, she was returning to the common room after class to find Diana and Charlie playing wizard’s chess by the window. She pulled up a chair to watch; Charlie was getting crushed by Diana.

“Are you cheating or something?” Charlie asked bitterly as Diana’s white queen sent his knight careening off the board.

“Just because I’m better?” Diana scoffed. She turned to give Anne a bright smile. “You’re late coming back.”

“I had some questions to ask,” Anne said, breathless from the run up the stairs to the top of Ravenclaw tower. “I can’t stay long, though.”

Diana smirked knowingly but didn’t look at Anne, knowing where she was going. Charlie was too engrossed in chess strategy to bother questioning it.

“Bishop to E4,” he said slowly.

“When will you learn,” Diana shook her head as she sent her rook barreling into Charlie’s bishop. He buried his face in his hands.

“Where’s Cole?” Anne asked curiously, resting her head on her hands. 

“Haven’t seen him since Charms,” Charlie said matter-of-factly, still scanning the board.

“Same here,” Anne confirmed.

“I haven’t seen him either,” Diana added. “He has been acting rather odd, lately, now that I’m thinking of it. Always slipping off so often, I can’t keep track.”

“Probably just extra Quidditch practice,” Charlie suggested. “Alice has been working the team like crazy since Gryffindor flattened us to prepare for the match against Hufflepuff. As if they’re going to give us any trouble.”

“The Hufflepuff team just beat Gryffindor, and they’re practically the best team at Hogwarts,” Diana argued.

“Only ‘cause Blythe was perfectly out of it!” Charlie replied. “Even with all that stuff that happened, he nearly caught the Snitch himself. Probably would’ve if those Slytherins weren’t shouting in his face and distracting him.”

“Since when are you a Gilbert Blythe fan?” Diana raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said that ‘no one could be trusted.’”

“I’m not his _fan_. The fact that his team’s good is an objective fact, Diana,” Charlie said, turning slightly pink. “Anyways, that was ages ago. Nothing’s happened since they’ve locked up his dad, and Blythe’s been here at Hogwarts the whole time. He can’t have been involved. Bet he didn’t even know about it. It’s sad, really.”

“Some of us knew that from the beginning,” Anne said crossly. As much as she did love Charlie, he could really get on her nerves.

Diana checkmated him, and Charlie’s jaw dropped. “Again? Rematch, Diana, I’ve got it this time, I was just warming up-”

“Yeah, of course you were,” Diana said. “Anne, aren’t you late for something?” She looked up at her and winked.

Anne didn’t give Diana the dignity of a response. She dropped the books from her other classes in her room and hurried out, not meeting her eyes. 

She headed towards the library, running a hand through her red hair and becoming lost in her thoughts until she bumped into Cole abruptly on one of the moving staircases.

“Oh - Cole! We were just wondering where you’ve been,” she said, looking up at him.

“Anne,” Cole said in surprise. “I - yeah, Snape caught me.”

“I thought he was teaching the first years right now,” Anne said, confused. Diana’s little sister, Minnie May, was in Gryffindor and took the class on Friday afternoons. 

“Right, I meant, before,” Cole said quickly. “I’ll see you later?” 

He brushed past Anne as the staircase secured itself to a new platform. 

“Bye,” Anne tried to say, but he had already gone. Cole was definitely acting weird. 

Anne slipped down to the first floor, passing a cluster of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs who were downing Pepper Imps and competing to see who could blow the most fire out of their mouths. 

When she made it to the library, she found Gilbert sitting in a corner with three or four textbooks open in front of him. He was half a page of parchment deep into the Defense Against the Dark Arts essay on the historical significance of hinkypunks. 

“Hope I’m not interrupting,” she said as she dropped her books beside him and sank into one of the squashy library chairs.

“‘Course not,” he said, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a small smile. “What kept you?”

“Diana and Charlie,” Anne responded, rolling her eyes. “And Cole - he’s been acting sort of strange recently.”

“Strange how?”

“I don’t know, I can’t explain it.”

“Maybe it’s Quidditch? Everyone's been practicing double time. It's a nightmare to reserve the pitch lately,” Gilbert suggested as he dipped his quill in his ink. Anne watched him scratch another line onto his essay. He had quite good penmanship.

“No, I don’t think that’s it,” Anne responded, cracking her own book open. 

She was about to begin reviewing the chapter on hinkypunks so that she could get started on her own essay, but a small giggle from the other end of the table broke her from her thoughts.

A few fourth year girls were sitting, shooting momentary glances at Gilbert and whispering to each other.

Anne cleared her throat and he looked up at her. “I think you have an audience,” she muttered, unimpressed.

Gilbert looked down at the girls and they turned quickly, giggling even more. 

“Maybe you should go talk to them. They may actually faint,” she quipped.

“Shut up,” Gilbert shook his head good-naturedly. “It’s not my fault.”

“‘It’s not my fault that everywhere I go, girls _swoon_ over me,’” Anne flicked her hair back derisively. 

“They’re not swooning! They’re probably just talking about… you know.”

The smile fell from Anne’s face. “Gilbert, of course they’re not,” she said, more quietly now. 

“Anne, you don’t have to pretend,” Gilbert said, eyes now fixed on his essay again. “It’s fine. I know people are going to talk about it.”

“Have you heard anything?” she asked bluntly. 

“I know just as much as you do.”

“What about your mother?”

“She’s dead,” Gilbert put his quill down and looked at her. She felt stupid, like she was asking all the wrong things, but he didn’t look annoyed. 

“Oh,” Anne said, her voice sounding small. “Did you know her?”

“A bit,” he said, smiling sadly. “She was a Muggle - a childhood friend of my dad’s. Before he knew he was a wizard. She was even with him when he got his letter. I remember what she looked like, I think. But I can’t really tell if those memories are even mine. She died when I was three.”

“My parents - my birth parents - died right after I was born. I was lucky to find Matthew and Marilla when I was twelve, but I was at an orphanage before that.”

“I can’t even imagine,” Gilbert said. Anne couldn’t quite read the expression on his face. “I don’t know where I’ll go if my dad doesn’t make it out of Azkaban.”

Anne watched him as he returned to his work. She realized then that she and Gilbert were curiously alike, even in ways that she could never have expected. It seemed that maybe, if things had been different when they had come to Hogwarts, they might have even been great friends long before any of this had happened.

* * *

When Anne returned to the common room, the Ravenclaw students were buzzing excitedly around the bulletin board. Anne shouldered her way past Prissy Andrews and Alice Penhallow and found her friends sitting in a cluster of chairs by the fire. 

“What’s going on?” Anne asked as she took a seat beside Ka’kwet. 

“First trip to Hogsmeade is tomorrow morning,” Diana responded excitedly. “Gosh, I feel like it’s been forever! I can’t wait to get some free time again.” Hosmeade was the wizarding village near Hogwarts. It was chock-full of interesting shops, with everything from sweets to supplies to pubs full of mysterious wizard travelers.

“It’s real lucky, cause I really need to stop by Dervish and Banges,” Cole commented. “Polish - for my broomstick. Alice has been getting on us about proper broom upkeep lately. She’s gotten real uptight.”

“ _She_ can hear you,” Alice called from across the common room, and Cole brushed it off, although his ears went a bit red.

“I’ll be stopping by Zonko’s,” Charlie said matter-of-factly. “Maybe I can finally restock on Dungbombs. I used my last to stink up Filch’s office on Halloween.”

“Mature,” Diana said, but she was stifling a laugh. “How about you, Anne? Got anything you’re excited for?”

“You know me,” Anne shrugged. “I’ll probably be browsing for hours. Diana, you’ll have to stop me from buying too much, of course.”

“Of course,” Diana confirmed with a wink. 

Anne and Diana retired early to their dorms. Cole and Charlie were just settling down to play a fifth game of wizard’s chess (“Well we have to have a tiebreaker!”) and they were growing tired of watching. Anne had already finished her homework for the weekend in the library, and was excited to spend her Saturday work-free.

“How was the library?” Diana asked innocently as they changed into their bed clothes.

“Big. Full of books,” Anne responded dryly.

Diana looked like she wanted to say something else on the subject, but bit her tongue. They each fell into their beds, suddenly quite tired.

“Gilbert’s friend is rather handsome, isn’t he?” she said randomly.

Anne’s brow wrinkled. “Jerry? I suppose.”

“Hm,” Diana said, and went to sleep. 

Anne started picturing Jerry Baynard. She hadn’t given him much thought before. But after a while the images of Jerry, who she had only seen with Gilbert, started to focus on him instead. Anne, rather annoyed with this, closed her eyes and forced herself to think of Hogsmeade instead, and fell quickly asleep. 

The next morning Diana woke her early to head off to breakfast. They met Cole and Charlie in the hall, who were in a detailed debate of whose classes were harder to sit through - Snape or Professor Binns.

“How is this even a _question_?” Cole said sharply. “Snape is practically evil!”

“I’d take evil over excruciatingly boring,” Charlie retorted. “Binns makes me want to poke my eyes out.”

“It’s a miracle you’re not in Slytherin,” Cole said. 

The Great Hall was only half full. Most of the first and second years, who weren’t allowed to visit Hogsmeade yet, didn’t bother waking up early on Saturdays. Anne caught Gilbert’s eye, and he gave her a small nod before looking back to Jane, who was talking to him about Quidditch, occasionally putting a very friendly hand on his shoulder. Anne looked away awkwardly.

They ate breakfast quickly, everyone excitedly discussing their plans for Hogsmeade. When they filed into lines to leave the castle, Filch came through, irritated as always. 

“Have your permission forms out,” he growled nastily as he examined each paper. He was carrying some sort of device with a large red light on the top of it.

"I heard that Flitwick charmed that thing to detect false signatures," Charlie whispered behind them. "Apparently they were having a bit of trouble after Baynard started running a miniature business forging them for people."

"Hear that, Diana? Baynard?" Anne said, giving Diana a taste of her own medicine. She turned bright red. 

Anne and Diana pushed past Filch once he begrudgingly let them past, nearly bowling over a pair of very excited looking third years.

“Where to first?” Anne said as they hurried into Hogsmeade together, hand in hand.

“Honeyduke's?” Diana suggested, and they soon burst into the shop.

Anne forgot what it was like to smell so many delicious sweets at once. The shop had a very distinct aroma that Anne could only describe as sugary and sharp. Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Beans, Pepper Imps, and Chocolate Frogs covered the front shelf. Charlie, who had entered with Cole just after they had, seized at least four Chocolate Frogs. 

“What? I collect the wizard cards.”

Anne and Diana, rolling their eyes, rounded the corner to find a small pink table upon which a very precarious looking pyramid of pink bottles was standing. 

“What’s that?” Diana asked curiously.

“I don’t think they had this last year,” Anne said, picking up a bottle from the top. She looked inside. The liquid was thick and a deep fuschia. 

“Open it, then,” a shopkeeper urged with a crooked smile. She was a plump little witch who was missing several teeth - Anne guessed from cavities. She wouldn’t be able to stop herself from eating everything at Honeyduke’s if she had worked here.

“What is it?” Anne asked curiously. She pulled the cork out of the top of the bottle and thick, pink clouds came wafting out.

The aroma hit her nose immediately. Anne almost coughed - it was extremely strong, but the most delicious smell she could imagine. First it was clear and cool, like the smell of the clear meadows at Green Gables. Then it morphed into the smell of ink, reminding Anne of the sensation of etching the last line into her parchment as she finished her homework. Then it morphed into a sort of piney smell that Anne couldn’t quite place, but she closed her eyes and could almost imagine where she had smelled it before. 

“Anne? Let me try.”

“Amortentia,” Anne whispered suddenly, opening her eyes and breaking out of the warm, dreamlike trance she had been in. She wrenched the bottle from her nose as if it was poison. “Love potion.”

“Love potion?” Diana echoed, wide-eyed, seizing the bottle from Anne’s outstretched hand.

“Just two Galleons,” the shopkeeper said with an encouraging grin. “Any boy would look your way if you slip a couple drops into his morning pumpkin juice.”

“Oh, Anne doesn’t need that, Gilbert already takes any opportunity he can to stare at-”

“No thank you,” Anne said quickly, steering Diana away from the love potion hastily.

“So what did you smell?” Diana questioned, peering at Anne’s read face as they looked up at a tall stack of jars of dancing gumdrops.

“Doesn’t matter,” Anne said quickly. “I wasn’t quite sure of what it was, really.”

“Amortentia gives off the scent of whatever attracts you most, doesn’t it?” Diana said. “Oh, fine, Anne, I’ll go first. I smelled butterscotch, hair spray…”

“There you are,” Anne interrupted her as they approached Charlie again, whose bag was lumpy and full. “Where’s Cole?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Charlie said, much more focused on reading the label on a box of Acid Pops. “Was I supposed to be watching him?”

“Well, maybe you should,” Diana said her brow creasing. “He has been disappearing mysteriously lately.”

“I’ll find him,” Anne said, heading for the Honeyduke’s door. “Don’t let her buy any love potion, Charlie. And don’t let him buy any of those, Diana. He’ll burn a whole through his mouth.”

Diana slapped them out of Charlie’s hand as Anne left. The chill of the air hit her as the bell on the door jingled cheerily behind her. She looked up and down the street. There!

Cole was walking quickly, cutting behind the Three Broomsticks. 

Anne followed, half-skipping to keep up. Her shoes clicked on the cobblestone road loudly. 

“ _Quietus_ ,” Anne whispered, pointing her wand at her feet. They stopped making noise. She wasn't sure if she would need a stealthy approach. 

She had almost reached the Three Broomstick, and stopped to peer around the corner. There was Cole, leaning against the wall looking almost… nervous? Beside him was another boy that Anne recognized. He was a tall, handsome Hufflepuff boy on the Quidditch team. Eliot Pierce - a Beater, Anne remembered suddenly.

Anne almost walked up to them to ask what on earth they were doing hanging behind the Three Broomsticks, but Eliot reached forward then and grabbed Cole’s hand. They were speaking too quietly for her to hear.

Her cheeks heating up, Anne realized. A _boy!_ And Cole hadn’t even mentioned a word to them about it!

Anne whipped back around the corner, immediately wondering if she should speak to Cole or Diana first about this news, when Dumbledore and none other than Fudge came barreling out of the Three Broomsticks. Fudge almost knocked Anne over, but neither of them saw her. 

“-will hear no more of this!” Fudge was saying angrily, in a sort of loud whisper, as if he was trying to speak quietly but failing miserably.

“But Minister, you must realize there are a multitude of reasons why he could have been there on that night,” Dumbledore was urging softly. “The evidence is far from conclusive!”

“The matter has been resolved, Albus! And as you can see, we have had no issues now that… _that man_ … has been put away.”

“I implore you to reconsider,” Dumbledore was saying. Anne tried to follow them, but the Headmaster whispered, “ _Muffliato,"_ and their voices faded away. 

Dumbledore was trying to get Gilbert’s father out of Azkaban? If he was so convinced of John’s innocence, then there must be a reason for it. The Ministry had still given hardly any details as to what happened that night, other than John being found standing over that body.

Anne was sure there was more to this than she could puzzle together on her own. She wasn’t sure of what they could even do, but she knew one thing: Gilbert had to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a longer chapter this time! I hope you guys are all doing well and that this story might be helping you fill your quarantine time. I think I'll be updating every 1-3 days, since I have so much time to write now. Thanks to everyone who has left comments, they are so lovely and are what motivates me to update this! Let me know what you think of what's happening too :)


	5. The Eye in the Orb

“I knew it,” Gilbert said through gritted teeth. “I just knew that the Ministry was hiding something. They just needed a scapegoat. I bet he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Fudge saw his opportunity - wanted to put the public at ease, I expect.”

Anne didn’t think she’d ever seen Gilbert so angry. His foot was tapping under the table as he thought, his hazel eyes flashing. She had found him walking with a crowd of other Gryffindors in Hogsmeade and immediately pulled him into the Three Broomsticks without a word. He had been blushing furiously over the whole ordeal until he caught a glimpse of Anne’s somber expression.

The barmaid brought two tankards full of butterbeer to them. Neither Anne nor Gilbert touched them.

“Gil… what are you thinking?” Anne asked, unable to read Gilbert’s face.

“Well, I’ve got about a thousand bright ideas of what I’d love to say to the Minister,” said Gilbert darkly. “I just feel like there’s something we have to be able to do. If Dumbledore is still trying to free my dad, that _means_ something. It’s like he knows that he’s innocent.”

“I know,” Anne said, shifting uncomfortably. Josie Pye, a particularly venomous Slytherin girl with a dislike for Anne, had just entered the pub with two other girls. She looked positively scandalized at the sight of Gilbert and Anne sitting alone together. 

Anne would deal with her later.

“Listen, there’s nothing we can do right now,” Anne said urgently. “You have to trust Dumbledore. He always knows what to do. And he’s clearly doing everything in his power to get your dad out.”

Gilbert’s eyes remained cloudy. He wouldn’t look Anne in the eyes.

“Hey,” Anne said, grabbing his hand. “If we figure out a way to help, we will. But there’s nothing we can do right now. And you’d risk expulsion if you tried to interfere with something this serious. Tell me you won’t.”

It wasn’t romantic at all. Anne simply was trying to get through to Gilbert - but she knew that wasn’t what it looked like. What Josie Pye saw was Anne and Gilbert, alone, holding hands in the Three Broomsticks. As this thought entered Anne’s head, she let go of Gilbert’s hand quickly.

“I won’t,” Gilbert said reluctantly, meeting her eyes. His face had softened, and he was looking at Anne in that way that made her feel suddenly very embarrassed, as someone was shining a spotlight in her face. 

She scooted out of her seat suddenly, almost tripping. “I- I’ll see you back at the castle.”

Anne didn’t bother glancing at Josie’s narrowed and calculating eyes as she stumbled out of the Three Broomsticks, very much in need of some fresh air.

* * *

The next Monday Anne had Divination with the Ravenclaws. Lately, the class had been an absolute mess. Professor Trelawney had always enjoyed handing out unsolicited predictions to her students, but now it was getting a bit out of hand. Gilbert had rolled his eyes and told her all about the Gryffindor’s latest lesson with her, which was full of this.

“Beware of anything coming in pairs,” she had told Jane Andrews, who scooted her chair away from twins Davy and Dora Keith. 

She had also told Tillie Boulter that something horrible would happen on a Thursday, and caused her to skip her entire schedule of classes that day to hide in her dorm room. 

To Gilbert, she had airily predicted the loss of someone close to him, to which he had irritably responded, “I’m pretty sure the front page of the Daily Prophet already predicted that, Professor.” 

As the Ravenclaws filtered into the room, which was full of the pungent aroma of several differently scented candles burning, Anne took a seat with Diana. Tens of tiny tables were cramped into the small room, which was decorated with many patterned rugs and tapestries. Only two chairs could fit at each table. Charlie and Cole, both fairly long-limbed, crammed themselves into the adjacent table.

“Ah, yes, welcome,” Trelawney ushered them in. “Take your seats, my children, and we’ll begin.”

As usual, it took about ten minutes for the Ravenclaws to “take their seats.” Miles Lauer was practically sitting on Jack Wallace at a corner table. 

“I believe we were just beginning our study of astrology,” Trelawney said with misty eyes. “Please, refer to the star charts under your tables.”

Anne pulled a crumpled, ancient-looking paper from under the table. It was marked with elaborate drawings of constellations and star alignments. Just as Anne was about to begin copying it into her notes, Diana raised her hand.

“Professor,” she asked evenly. “I was wondering if you might be able to predict something about what’s happening with the Ministry.”

Anne’s head jerked up suddenly. She had revealed what she had learned to Diana and Cole, but hadn’t expected Diana to do something so rash. What if Trelawney revealed something important? What if she misread something, and got the entire school to be afraid of Gilbert again? Anne tried to kick Diana under the table, but accidentally hit one of the legs of her chair.

“Well, I, er,” stuttered Professor Trelawney. “I’m not sure you all are prepared for what the Sight may reveal.”

“Please, Professor,” said Alicia Crosby from across the room. She looked frightened. Anne remembered then that her mother worked in the Ministry.

“Well, perhaps I can see if any omens have been laid out,” Trelawney said with uncertainty. “I _have_ been meditating on this for quite some time.”

She shuffled into the back of the classroom, and opened a large wardrobe. She began rooting through its contents, tossing a crystal ball to the floor where it rolled, unattended, down the aisle between the students. Finally, she retrieved something large and round, wrapped in a maroon covering. 

The students leaned in with a rapt interest that was unusual of most Divination classes. Trelawney returned to her desk and lowered the large ball onto an ornate stand before unwrapping it. 

It was like a crystal ball, but larger. Inside was milky blue mist, which configured itself into strange shapes that dissipated before Anne could determine what they were. Professor Trelawney put a hand on either side of the ball and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath. When she opened them, they were glassy and distant, the misty orb reflected in her thick rimmed glasses.

She spoke in her normal voice. “Ah, yes,” she said quietly. 

Anne and Diana exchanged a dubious glance.

“Just as I thought, exactly as I thought,” she muttered again. The students whispered to each other curiously.

After several minutes, her eyes snapped shut again, and opened normally. She clutched a hand to her chest. “Students,” she whispered grimly. “I’m afraid what I have seen is very dark.”

She spoke quietly still, and Jack Wallace nearly fell off his seat from leaning forward. She stood and paced for a moment. 

“The Eye,” she rasped suddenly and dramatically, as if gasping for air. Anne whipped out her Divination textbook - she recognized that sign.

“ _The Eye in the orb, is a symbol of great loss. It is one of few known ‘definite’ omens, which are considered to be almost certain to occur, although one cannot predict when,_ ” she read aloud, causing the classroom to fill with nervous chatter.

“My students, it is only a matter of time,” Trelawney said darkly. “The Orb does not lie. Something will be lost. And it will be right from underneath us, yes. Right here at Hogwarts.”

* * *

“It’s ridiculous, that’s what it is,” Gilbert said icily. They were sitting together by the Quidditch pitch, where Anne caught Gilbert practicing before the rest of his team showed up for their official practice. She had wanted to update him on the events of Divination. “They shouldn’t be letting her teach.”

“You should have seen her, it was scary,” Anne laughed. “But, I don’t know, Gil. The omen stuff? I mean, why on earth would they call it a ‘definite omen’ if it wasn’t certain to occur?”

“Because unless they label it ‘definite,’ absolutely no one will listen,” Gilbert said pointedly. He had always favored logic, and was quite a grounded person, and thus didn’t much approve of the art of Divination. But Anne was much more imaginative; and although Divination was often weakly founded, it still had to mean _something_ if they were still teaching it after all this time. 

Gilbert finished polishing his broomstick. It was a Comet Two-Ninety, a broom matched only by the top of the line Nimbus 2000 which had come out recently. “That’s the last of the polish. I’ll have to get more next time we go to Hogsmeade. You want to try?” he said, offering the broom to her.

“What? Oh, no, I don’t think-”

“Come on, Shirley, there’s a Quidditch player in all of us,” he said, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her towards the pitch. “Go on.”

Anne hadn’t flown since her second year. She used to quite enjoy it, but had taken a nasty fall that had left her with a broken wrist, and she hadn’t felt the need to take up flying again since. It made her smile a bit, to think about how eager Gilbert was to get back on a broom as soon as Madam Pomfrey allowed it, even after he’d virtually shattered his arm. 

Gilbert looked very excited, and Anne, not wanting to disappoint, felt that she didn’t really have a choice. She glared at him and held the Comet out in front of her, swinging a leg over it. She grasped the handle firmly, her knuckles turning white.

“Well, lean into it then,” Gilbert laughed, guiding her with a hand. Anne only briefly felt the burning sensation of his hand on her lower back before the Comet accelerated and she shot away, wind whipping her hair behind her. 

She panicked for a moment - did she remember how to fly? It had been so long. But before she could even think, her muscle memory took over and she guided the Comet easily. She pulled up just in time to narrowly miss one of the Quidditch goalposts, flying upside down for a moment before twisting back upright. Gilbert was a blur on the ground, and Anne could hardly think of anything but her heart pounding in her ears. 

Why she stopped flying, Anne suddenly couldn’t remember. She took both her hands off the front of the broom, letting them drift alongside her in the air. Her worries seemed very distant now. Her senses felt dramatically heightened: the wisping clouds beside her, the woody smell of Gilbert’s broom polish, the cool sensation of the air on her face.

She leaned left, gripping the handle now, and the Comet obliged, tilting her into a corkscrew. She ran a few loops through the air, distantly aware of Gilbert yelling “Show off!” from the ground. She descended towards him, braking sort of awkwardly so that the Comet practically bucked her off at the bottom and she went stumbling into Gilbert, who caught her stiffly.

Anne couldn’t even feel embarrassed as he steadied her, quickly dropping his hands away from her as she regained her footing. She was laughing too much, giddy from the exhilaration of flying.

“So you liked it?” Gilbert asked, grinning.

“It was amazing!” Anne exclaimed breathlessly. 

Gilbert was looking at her with an expression of half-amusement, half-admiration. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Anne saw Jane and the rest of the Gryffindor team approaching the pitch in the corner of her eye.

“Looks like you’re about to be busy, captain, so I’ll get out of your way,” Anne teased, gathering up her things. “See you later, okay?” She left him before he got the chance to respond, still looking rather enchanted by the sight of Anne flying like a natural on his broom. 

Anne ignored Jane’s judging eyes as they crossed paths on her way out. As she walked back to the school, her mind drifted back to Trelawney’s warning, and her heart slowed again. What had she wanted to do? 

Anne only remembered when she had walked two corridors past Professor Stacy’s classroom that she had meant to stop there. She doubled back; she wanted to discuss with her what had happened with Divination. Professor Stacy could be trusted to not ask too many questions about Anne’s intentions, and Anne valued no one’s opinion more than hers. If there was truth to what the Orb had revealed, Professor Stacy would know.

She pushed open the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Room, trying to flatten her hair, which was still windswept from flying.

“Anne? Oh come in,” Professor Stacy said hurriedly. She was wrangling a few pixies back into a large cage where about six were already rocketing around. Anne shut the door behind her, not wanting any of them to somehow get loose in the corridor.

“Sorry about the mess,” Professor Stacy apologized, whisking them back into the cage with a levitation spell. One, however, wriggled free and immediately launched itself at Anne.

“ _Immobulus_ ,” Anne whipped out her wand instinctively. The pixie froze in mid air, moving in slow motion.

“Great work, Anne, thank you,” said Stacy as she pulled it into the cage by its foot. “Now, what is it?”

Anne took a few steps forward and sat in a chair in front of Professor Stacy’s desk as she sat behind it. Anne found her eyes caught on a picture frame on her desk. It showed a younger Professor Stacy, embraced by a tall and handsome man she didn’t recognize. She wasn’t old, but Professor Stacy had lines of worry that weren’t there in the picture, probably after years of working in the Ministry and later at the school. Anne hadn’t thought much about her time before working at Hogwarts.

“It was something Professor Trelawney was saying in Divination,” Anne went on. Professor Stacy looked skeptical, but didn’t interrupt. “Diana had asked her to predict something about the Ministry.”

“Well, Anne,” her professor began, smoothing out her robes. “I wouldn’t be overly concerned with the musings of our Professor Trelawney. She’s a brilliant witch, er, well, she was back in her day, but you must understand - Divination is just such an imprecise branch of magic…”

“Of course,” Anne said. “It’s just that… well, she saw something called a definite omen. An eye. She said it marks the imminent loss of something important, here at Hogwarts.”

She waited for Professor Stacy to interject, but the older witch just looked very pensive.

“And, well, I was wondering if there was any important artifact, or, something at Hogwarts that these dark wizards might consider stealing.”

“Anne,” she said finally, reaching forward to clasp Anne’s hands in her own. “I assure you that while definite omens _are_ statistically more probable, that there is nothing at this school that will be stolen. You shouldn’t concern yourself with these matters. I promise you, Hogwarts is and remains the safest place for anyone to be right now.”

Anne nodded and dropped her head. “Right, Professor. Thanks.” She left, hoping with every fibre of her being that Professor Stacy was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter everyone! I hope that you all are doing well and staying sane. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter! I think the next one will be especially exciting as well...


	6. The Winter Ball

In early December, Hagrid had set to work embellishing Hogwarts and the Great Hall with the most elaborate Christmas decorations that Anne had ever seen. At the end of every table in the Great Hall, beautiful garlands hung with dancing colored lights and ornaments that morphed shape by the minute. Occasionally, the bewitched ceiling above would begin dumping enchanted snow which dissolved into sparkles before touching anything solid - leaving many students in dismay as they tripped over each other to catch it on their tongues. At least nine large trees had been set up with glittering candles and tinsel, with more littering the corridors of the school. Mistletoe would spring down magically over unsuspecting students in the hallways, leaving them to turn bright red as their nearby friends teased and laughed. Anne remembered to compliment Hagrid on the beautiful trees he had grown himself and hauled into the castle, leaving her Care of Magical creatures professor blushing in thanks.

Winter holidays were approaching, and Anne found herself swamped with more work than ever. She was especially thankful she had become friends with Gilbert, because Professor Stacy’s assignments were growing more difficult and he often was instrumental in helping Anne finish all her work on time. Their library visits were becoming more frequent, and Gilbert had even become good friends with Diana and Cole, who tagged along sometimes. Cole and Gilbert had bonded quickly over their mutual passion for Quidditch, and now that Diana had befriended Gilbert as well, she was less prone to teasing Anne about him. 

Anne made a point of cornering Cole one day in the common room to finally confront him about his secret Hogsmeade companion, but before the words could even come out of her mouth, he found a way to change the subject and cleverly distract her. It had now happened several times, leaving Anne to curse irritably when she realized hours later.

Anne and Gilbert skipped the next Hogsmeade visit, having agreed to spend that Saturday studying every piece of information about the Ministry business they could find. Anne checked out every book related to the Ministry’s policy on criminal wizards, while Gilbert pulled at least six editions of the Daily Prophet to cross reference their claims.

It seemed, however, that the rest of the students at Hogwarts had forgotten the dark occurrences of October. There had been a couple cases of missing wizards, but Fudge had assured that there was absolutely no evidence tying the crimes, and the public had heartily accepted this explanation. They all believed now that John Blythe had indeed been responsible for the murders, and while no one blamed Gilbert anymore, he found it almost worse that everyone still assumed his father’s guilt. His only solace was Anne’s equally firm belief that there was more to the case. 

Unfortunately, the Ministry accounts of John’s arrest were horribly vague, and the Daily Prophet indulged in a healthy amount of artistic license when postulating about the events that had occurred. The only explicitly known facts were that John was found standing over the body, armed with his wand. 

“Gilbert, we’ve been reading for ages,” Anne said with a yawn. Cole and Diana should be getting back from Hogsmeade soon. “There’s nothing else we’ll be able to find, unless we can break into the Ministry” - Gilbert’s eyes flashed mischievously - “and we’re _not_ breaking into the Ministry!”

“I know,” he said defeatedly as he stood up, making Anne’s heart lurch with sympathy. “Let’s just head back. Jerry’s promised that he’d buy me some Zonko’s stuff so we can mess with Filch. Reckons that’ll get my mind off everything.”

Anne rolled her eyes and took his outstretched hand to pull herself up. Gilbert walked her back to the common room, and then headed back to his own after they said their goodbyes. 

She stepped into the common room, surprised to find almost the entirety of Ravenclaw bustling around excitedly. Something had been posted on the bulletin board - but even the Hogsmeade visit announcements had never drawn so much of a crowd.

“Wow! There’s been nothing like this for years,” one girl mused. 

“Who will I ask?” another one said panickedly. 

“Ugh, really?” a couple of boys were groaning.

Anne shouldered her way to the front, and her eyes widened at what she saw. She tore back through the crowd to find where Diana, Cole, Charlie, and Ka’kwet were sitting. They each had full bags from the Hogsmeade shops, and Ka’kwet’s cat Koda was purring on her lap. They were chatting just as excitedly. 

“What on _earth_ is on the bulletin board?” Anne exclaimed as she pulled up a chair. 

“The Winter Ball!” Diana giggled, though Anne had read the message perfectly well for herself. “It’s an _ancient_ tradition, there hasn’t been one for nearly a hundred years! Dumbledore reckons it would be good to boost morale after everything that’s been going on.”

“Half the students at this school have already forgotten about that,” Anne grumbled. “And this dance certainly won’t help anything.”

“Anne,” chided Cole. “Since when do you object to a little lighthearted fun?”

“Since we all have way better things to be doing!”

“Well, I think it will be great,” Diana grinned. 

“Fancy going with me then, Diana?” Charlie said with a flourish.

“Oh, shut it, Charlie!”

Anne’s heart sank. Now there would be the embarrassment of finding dates to go with to the ball? This was beyond humiliating. She had no doubt that Diana would have plenty of suitors begging to go with her, but Anne had never bothered with romance. She wished she could just go alone, but she didn’t want to give Josie Pye the satisfaction.

“So what did you all buy at Hogsmeade, then?” Anne asked, desperate to change the subject. 

Ka’kwet and Charlie dumped out their Honeydukes candy and Diana went on about the invisible ink she’d bought for her diary after Minnie May had stolen it earlier that month. Cole pulled out a small green bottle of liquid. 

“What’s that?” Anne asked, picking the bottle up curiously.

“Broomstick polish. Rare kind, it was a bit hard to find, actually,” Cole said offhandedly. He went back to discussing the best Honeydukes sweet with Charlie. 

Anne looked at it curiously, though. It gave off a faint, familiar smell. Anne slowly uncapped it. The pungent smell poured out and gave Anne a jolt. 

It smelled of a rich pine forest. The exact smell that Anne couldn’t place earlier in the Amortentia. The smell of Cole’s broom polish? Anne’s face heated up with embarrassment. She couldn’t _possibly_ like Cole, could she?

She quickly capped the polish and stowed it in Cole’s bag as if the sight was offensive. Diana noticed and gave Anne a small curious look, and Anne just shook her head to insinuate that she would explain later. She felt rather sick with humiliation. Cole clearly had a beau - and Anne had never even thought of him in that way! 

Eventually she made an excuse to retire to the dormitory, Diana on her heels. As the door to their room shut behind them, Anne fell dramatically onto Diana’s bed.

“Oh, Anne, what _is_ it?” Diana exclaimed, shaking Anne’s shoulder.

“The polish Cole bought! It’s the smell I couldn’t remember from the love potion!” Anne moaned. Diana’s forehead wrinkled.

“Oh. Well, it could just be the smell of the polish that you enjoy?” Diana offered.

“I don’t think I’ve even smelled that before, Diana. _And_ , I don’t play Quidditch. _And_ , Cole said it was a very rare kind that he clearly uses exclusively! It must have been related to him!”

“So, you like Cole?” Diana said confusedly.

“No, of course not!” Anne nearly shouted. “He’s got a boy-” Anne slapped a hand over her mouth - “oh, Diana, I wasn’t supposed to say that!”

“A boyfriend?” Diana finished excitedly. “What! How?”

“I saw them at Hogsmeade,” Anne said even more miserably. “I can’t possibly like Cole, Diana. I just can’t!”

“Well, perhaps you can still go to the ball together as friends. And if you don’t feel anything for Cole after that, then the love potion must have been wrong, Anne.”

They went to sleep after that, Anne with a sinking feeling that love potion was never wrong.

Instead of taking Diana’s advice and asking Cole as friends, Anne avoided him at all costs for the next few days. The thought of her apparent feelings for him was beyond mortifying. Anne could hardly enjoy the Christmas festivities that Dumbledore had planned leading up to the holidays.

But, after a few days of strangeness, Cole, confused and thinking he had done something wrong, finally confronted Anne. She felt horrible for avoiding him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Cole,” she said tenderly. “It’s just been this Winter Ball upsetting me. Do you think you could ever forget my horrible behavior and go as friends?”

“Anne, I would love that,” Cole said gently, “but someone has already asked me.”

Anne teared up. “Eliot?”

Cole froze, but he had anticipated that Anne, the smart girl she was, had pieced it together. “Well, yes. What is it, Anne, why are you crying?”

Anne sat defeatedly in front of the fireplace, embarrassed tears welling up in her eyes. She explained to him about the love potion and apologized profusely about these feelings, sure to express that she was just as shocked by them as he must be.

Cole listened to the whole story respectfully, a small smile playing on his lips. 

“Anne,” he said slowly once she had finished. “I don’t know what to say. That polish - it wasn’t for me - Gilbert asked me to buy it for him. It really was a nightmare to find… I reckon he’s the only person who uses it.”

* * *

If Anne had been embarrassed at the thought of having feelings for Cole, this was impossibly worse. Her eyes had widened at this turn of events and she had opened and closed her mouth several times in disbelief before turning on her heel and leaving Cole stifling laughter in the common room. 

_Feelings for Gilbert Blythe?_ Just the idea of it replaying in Anne’s head was entirely too much for her. Sure, she had grown quite fond of him, but it had been purely platonic! But now that she realized the polish had been his, she recognized where she knew the faint smell from - she had first noticed it at the Quidditch match, when he caught the Snitch and nearly knocked her out. Then again when she rode his broom. 

She couldn’t even fathom it. And yet, Anne thought deeply about the last few times she had seen Gilbert, wondering if she had just been pushing the idea of it away. The urge to grab his hand, to touch his face, to hold his gaze. Anne had never allowed these thoughts to linger in her head for more than a moment, but now, remembering them, she felt her cheeks getting hot. 

The next few times she saw him, Anne focused very hard on how she felt, but her feelings toward Gilbert had always been confusing and foreign. And it wasn’t as if his behavior was helping. Gilbert had shown exactly zero indication that he was even aware that the Winter Ball was occurring. 

But Gilbert _must_ have known, because she had heard Diana mention at least six times during breakfast the various girls who have been practically throwing themselves at him in hopes of gaining his favor. Meanwhile, Diana had politely refused a couple boys herself, although Anne knew she was hoping a certain Gryffindor friend of Gilbert’s would ask her. 

On the bright side, Cole had finally introduced them to Eliot, a very handsome Hufflepuff boy. He was a talented Beater on their Quidditch team, so they all recognized him. Anne was blissfully relieved that she did not in fact love Cole, because they made a wonderful pair.

After a week, Jerry had finally asked Diana, Cole was going with Eliot, and even Charlie and Ka’kwet had agreed cheerily to attend as friends. Anne had given up hope that anyone would ask her, especially not Gilbert, who had started to annoy her with his complete disregard of it all. 

The next time she saw him alone was that Friday. Diana and Cole had gone to watch the Slytherin-Hufflepuff match in support of Ruby, who had invited them during Herbology.

Anne plopped her things down beside Gilbert and sat down wordlessly, opening her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. He gave her a strange look, but returned to his work without questioning her stormy behavior. 

Anne couldn’t help but steal glances at him. Now that the love potion fiasco had made her painfully aware of the _slight_ , _fractional_ , _miniscule_ feelings that she may have for him, he had become quite difficult to ignore. Her eyes couldn’t help tracing the sharp line of his jaw, which clenched when he was thinking hard. She wondered also how she had never noticed the faint freckles that fanned across his nose, or the dark curve of his eyelashes. He was rather good-looking, Anne decided objectively, filing this conclusion away in her head. And then he started nudging her playfully with his foot under the table, still not looking up. He knows she’s annoyed, and he’s trying to be cute, and Anne _hates_ this, because it works.

And then it sort of just… came out.

Her mouth was agape, kind of deeply regretting what had just happened, and definitely regretting it when he began to laugh.

Gilbert actually laughed so much that Madam Pince came over personally to shush him, and while he apologized, he was _still_ breathless from laughing. Anne just stared at him as if she was seconds from abandoning her dignity entirely and hitting him right in the face.

He caught her expression and regained his composure enough to sputter, “What?”

Anne looked back at her book but she couldn’t even focus on the page in front of her. “Nothing, I didn’t… nothing.”

“No, not nothing,” Gilbert goaded, a smile growing on his face again. Anne thought if he laughed one more time she might just die. “You asked me to the ball. Except you didn’t even ask, you just said ‘go to the ball with me.’”

“Really?” Anne coughed, not daring to look at him again. “That doesn’t sound like me.”

“Honestly, Anne, if I didn’t just hear it, I wouldn’t have believed it came from you,” Gilbert responded. “Do you want to try again?”

“No.”

“Come on, Carrots.”

“No, you laughed at me,” Anne snapped, even more irritable after he used that nickname.

“Fine, then I will,” Gilbert said, and he grabbed Anne’s hand, tugging it so she would finally look up at him. Then he leaned closer to her until Anne could almost feel his breath on her face. He smelled of pine and the ocean and it made her feel a bit weak. 

“Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, won’t you please go to the Winter Ball with me?”

Anne wanted to say no, just because of how mortifying this entire ordeal had been, but he was looking at her with expectant eyes and just a hint of a smile still on his face. She hadn't thought about what it would be like to be so close to him, but now wished she had experienced it sooner, because she really didn't mind it at all.

Anne didn’t know why, but she almost kissed him. He was right there, and she had never wanted to kiss someone before, but the thought had occurred to her suddenly - and to her surprise, she did consider it. Instead, though, she pushed his face away playfully and grumbled, “Fine.”

“See how polite that was?” Gilbert teased. “Take notes, Anne-girl.”

“One more word, Blythe, and I’ll say no," Anne warned, and tried to stifle an involuntary smile.

They didn’t speak for the rest of that visit, but they didn’t have to. Gilbert went happily back to absentmindedly tapping her foot every now and then, and the silence that fell over them felt comfortable and right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay stuff is happening! I hope that you all liked this chapter, I really liked writing it. I can't believe I'm about halfway through this story! Let me know how you all are and your thoughts, as always :)


	7. Gone Again

Anne spent the next week having to convince virtually everyone she spoke to that nothing romantic was happening between her and Gilbert Blythe. She had only told Cole and Diana - both of whom were half-astounded and half-elated at this news - but Gilbert had told Jerry, and Jerry had told the whole school, apparently. 

Several girls approached Anne, some who she’d never even talked to before, to ask about him. When Anne would explain that they were just friends, the girls would give her a disbelieving look, albeit a pleased one. If she had known what a production this would be, she never would have considered the idea to begin with. No doubt Josie Pye was spearheading these rumors. She had only fueled the fire by adding what she had seen at the Three Broomsticks into the mix of gossip circulating around the school.

Anne felt awkward. It seemed strange to just be around Gilbert normally, now, as if she was under some kind of microscope. When they’d sit in the library, students across the room would eye them every now and then. Passing girls would whisper, and boys would throw winks at Gilbert, who ignored them. 

Despite what she would tell everyone, Anne did feel different around him. She wanted to stretch her legs onto his lap when they sat together in the library. She wanted to rest her head on his chest when he hummed, absorbed in his work. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she’d never let these thoughts linger. And she would never dare to do these things, because it would only bring on more prying questions. He didn’t seem to presume that they were a romantic item at all, either, so the idea of acting on these strange thoughts was unimaginable to Anne.

Diana had been preoccupying her with dress shopping, especially as the dance loomed closer and closer. Dumbledore had arranged for one last visit to Hogsmeade to be squeezed in before the ball, because few students had come prepared with floor-length gowns and dress robes. 

Diana whisked Anne into Gladrags Wizardwear the moment they reached Hogsmeade, a small and shabby little store. Most of the clothes were consigned, which made the nicer items just affordable enough for Anne. 

Several other girls were already inside when they arrived. A dumpy, round-faced witch was flicking her wand around; tape measures were flying, measuring girls from their feet to their eyebrows, their fingertips to their waist, their knees to the bridge of their nose. Josie Pye had just finished getting her measurements. She was accompanied by Jane Andrews and Ruby Gillis. Ruby gave Anne a small wave, and her tape measure swatted her on the arm for moving out of its reach.

“Anne,” she said venomously as she stepped in front of her. “Looking for a dress?” There was no warmth to her words.

“I guess you’ve figured that out, Josie. There’s that Slytherin cleverness,” Anne sighed with annoyance.

Josie narrowed her eyes, and through gritted teeth, muttered, “Just remember Anne, that pretty wrappings don’t change who you are. Or what you’re worth. It’s only a matter of time until he finds that out too.”

Anne recoiled, stung, as Josie brushed past. Jane followed, giving Anne what was almost an apologetic look, but not quite. 

Diana, who had been ushered over to get measurements, hadn’t heard the conversation. Anne decided to just ignore it. The gowns on display in the front were lovely, but flashy, so she left Diana and continued to explore the shop. She pushed through a small swinging door into a back room, where a woman was bending over an elaborate looking fabric pattern.

“Oh - I’m sorry,” Anne said, unsure if she was allowed back here. There was fabric everywhere, and half made dresses with needles stitching their hems autonomously. There were also a few completed dresses hanging around the room.

“Not a problem, dear, please,” the witch said kindly. “I apologize for the mess. You’re welcome of course to any of the dresses that I’ve finished here.”

“I thought these dresses were secondhand,” Anne murmured as she reached out to touch a velvety black one. 

“Most are, but I sometimes rework the fabrics or alter them,” the woman explained. “I’m Jeannie Pippett. This is my sister’s store; I just make the dresses.”

“Anne. They’re lovely,” Anne said warmly, shaking her outstretched hand.

“Are you looking for something in particular?”

Anne turned, giving a small shrug. “A dress, I suppose, for the Winter Ball. My darling friend seems to think that none of mine are up to snuff. And I suppose it shouldn’t be a red dress - it’s dreadful with my hair. I only wish I could darken it, so that I might wear any color I please, like Diana can.”

“Well, Anne,” Jeannie said with a knowing smile. “I suppose a deep green or navy would be quite sophisticated.”

“Oh, navy, if you will,” Anne said, grinning, as Jeannie pulled a dress from the rack against the wall. 

Anne tried it on, gasping at her own reflection in the mirror. Her carrot-colored hair seemed to have dimmed to a deep auburn. Her eyes gleamed like sapphires. The dress, which resembled the night sky, fell to her ankles. She looked much older, and for the first time, perhaps, Anne felt very beautiful. 

When she emerged, Diana was there, a shining pale blue gown draped over her arm. “Oh, Anne, it’s marvelous!”

Anne’s excitement fizzled slightly, remembering Josie’s words, and she was very quiet for the remainder of the trip.

* * *

Diana stuffed the dresses in bags and refused to let the boys see. “It will practically spoil the excitement,” she said with a huff as Charlie jokingly tried levitating the dresses out of the bags (“ _ Wingardium Levi-  _ OW, Diana!”).

The Gryffindors would be playing the Slytherins in Quidditch the following morning, and the dance would be that night. Anne hadn’t seen Gilbert outside of classes in several days, and even during classes he looked unfocused and barely acknowledged her. Anne knew how much Gilbert wanted to lead his team to a victory against Slytherin, especially after he’d botched the Hufflepuff game. Anne was confident that they would win, but nervous, knowing he’d be devastated if they didn’t.

It was a clear but cold day. The Quidditch pitch was covered in a thin layer of frost, which crunched under Anne and her friends’ feet as they made their way to the Ravenclaw stands. The crowd of students were chattering excitedly, about both the game and the ball that night.

Josie appeared suddenly, falling in step beside Anne, who seriously wished that she could get a break for once.

“Coming to the Slytherin/Gryffindor game?” she said innocently. “It’s very sweet of you to support your boyfriend. I’ll ask Billy not to send too many Bludgers his way, but you know him. Difficult to persuade.”

Anne opened her mouth to retort but then closed it bitterly. She wouldn’t rise to the bait.

Josie just smirked and hurried ahead. She was probably late; she would be playing for Slytherin as their Seeker opposite Gilbert. She was talented, but she was far from their best player. To Anne it seemed to be no coincidence that Josie was the only girl on the team, and happened to be dating Slytherin captain Billy Andrews. 

Josie Pye was catty; Billy Andrews was vile. He had thrown snide comments and judging looks at Anne for her entire time at Hogwarts. He was especially at odds with Gilbert; there had been several rumors of physical fights between them over the years. Only Billy could draw that sort of reaction out of him - Anne had seen the way he bristled whenever Billy was being especially nasty. She knew the game today was unlikely to be a clean match.

Diana reassured her that Josie was probably just taking out her nervous energy on Anne, and Cole made a sour comment about her Quidditch skills being “nothing to write home about.” Anne brushed it off, told them both it was fine, and continued wordlessly to the stands. 

Charlie joined them soon after, breathless. “I smuggled a Dungbomb into the Slytherin locker room,” he said with an enormous grin. 

“What on earth would you do that for?” Cole asked incredulously

“Well, Josie and Billy were being awful again,” Charlie said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What? I thought you guys would be happy!”

The others just chuckled with amusement. It wasn’t until they saw Billy and his team bolting out of the locker room, gagging and pinching their noses, that they admitted it was a pretty good joke. Anne could swear, though, that Snape had been looking suspiciously in their direction, muttering angrily to Professor Flitwick in the teacher’s stands.

Soon, the Gryffindor team joined them on the field. Anne leaned forward over the edge of the railings of the stands. Gilbert was in the lead, looking confident but serious. Anne found it difficult sometimes to connect the hardworking student from the library to the broad-shouldered Quidditch captain that stood on the pitch before her. The corner of her mouth tugged up into a small smile as he turned to his team to give some last minute words of advice. 

Gilbert and Billy met to shake hands, then, and both looked as if they very much wanted to pull the other’s arm off. Then, Moody’s voice came booming across the stadium. 

“Welcome, everyone. This will be a match for the ages, the very morning of the Winter Ball, and of course, none other than Slytherin and Gryffindor house. I’m more than pleased to be a Hufflepuff today, I mean, I would not want to be going to the ball with Ruby if she had lost a Quidditch match just hours before -  _ ouch _ .” 

Moody’s sidetracking earned him a sharp  _ whap! _ on the head from Snape, who was seated behind him. “Right, sorry. Anyways, Blythe and Andrews, shaking hands there on the field. Plenty of history between these players; those two never particularly liked each other. Then there’s also a bit of a sibling rivalry between Billy Andrews and his sister, Jane - always interesting to see these two teams play, if a bit scary.”

Madam Hooch was speaking firmly to Gilbert and Billy, who were staring daggers at each other. She seemed to want to clarify to them again that she wanted a clean game for once. Past precedent didn’t make that a very promising possibility. 

Anne saw her raise the whistle to her mouth, and a loud tweet signaled the beginning of the game. Both teams kicked off the ground, Jane Andrews seizing the Quaffle a moment before Blaise Rickter, an enormous seventh year who was missing several teeth.

Jane dodged Lyle Fuller and whizzed towards the goal posts. She had broken away quickly, leaving them in her wake. 

“Andrews -  _ Jane  _ Andrews that is - looking good with the Quaffle there. She’s put some distance between her and the Slytherin Chasers, so she won’t have to worry about a blocking formation. Looks like it’ll just be her and the Keeper, Bulstrode - AGH!” Moody cringed suddenly, and paused.

“Yep, a Bludger right to the arm - sent to her by none other than her brother. Cold-blooded play by Billy Andrews, there, but fair - and now it’s Slytherin Flynn Carter with the Quaffle, doubling back to gain some ground… er, air?”

“Billy Andrews is a lunatic,” Cole muttered under his breath. 

Carter managed to fake out Jerry at the goal and put the Quaffle through the center hoop. The entire Gryffindor team was fuming.

“SLYTHERIN GOAL!” Moody announced, a bit distastefully. The Slytherins, clad in deep green, erupted into applause and waved banners of writhing serpents. “Michael Finnigan with the Quaffle now, and still no sign of the Snitch, so you can all stop staring at Gilbert.  _ Anyways _ , Finnigan passes to Jane, who crosses to Gryffindor Helena Armstrong. Armstrong in possession, she’s headed towards the goal to avenge Gryffindor. Now it’s just her and Keeper Ernie Bulstrode, she shoots - GRYFFINDOR SCORES!”

Anne and her friends cheered loudly, and the Gryffindors across the pitch roar with excitement. Gilbert dipped down to shout something to Jane and Helena, who nodded and flew back to try to retrieve the Quaffle from Lyle Fuller. He had gone zooming towards Jerry.

Helena and Jane crowded Lyle on both sides, and he veered off course, trying to shake them off. Then suddenly, Jane dipped in front of him, and Lyle, off-balancedly trying to avoid her, let the Quaffle slip from his hands. 

“Great play by Gryffindor there, Helena’s retrieved the Quaffle now, and she’s headed towards Bulstrode to score again. She passes to Finnigan - he’s preparing to shoot…”

Oliver Cowell, the second Beater for the Slytherins, suddenly collided with Finnigan in a mess of elbows and brooms that almost caused Michael to fall off.

“FOUL!” Moody yelled indignantly before Madam Hooch even called it, which she very quickly did. “Blatant cobbing, and a rather stupid move, because it’s resulted in a Gryffindor penalty anyways.” Moody received a scolding then for apparent favoritism, and didn’t comment as Michael took the penalty and scored for Gryffindor.

Gryffindor was up 20-10 now, Gilbert and Josie still circling above the match in search of the golden glimmer of the Snitch. Gilbert occasionally dipped down to shout plays at his team, but his eyes never ceased from scanning the field. 

Jane scored twice, bringing them up to 40-10, and the Slytherins took this as an indication to start playing dirty. Billy, a talented Beater, mercilessly clobbered the Bludgers at the Chasers and Gilbert, swaying them off course and slowing them from scoring. Fuller and Rickter began blocking Jane’s path of flight, each of them almost twice her size. Flynn Carter scored, but Gryffindor made two of the three penalty shots for the various fouls committed by the Slytherins. They almost always sent the Gryffindors careening off course with the breath knocked out of them. It was as if Billy’s plan was to exhaust the much quicker Gryffindor Chasers and hope that Josie could catch the Snitch in time. 

“Gilbert ought to catch the Snitch soon,” Diana said, biting her lip. “One more collision and I’m sure Jane’s going to be knocked unconscious.”

Gilbert sensed this too, and looked very grim up there above the match when Anne borrowed Charlie’s binoculars to check on him. Rickter scored, bringing the score to 60 - 30, when Gilbert began diving towards the ground.

Josie caught on and immediately followed him, plummeting towards the ground just meters in his wake. Both were gaining speed and the ground was approaching at an alarming rate, and Anne’s fingers squeezed the railings of the stands so hard her knuckles were white.

Anne still couldn't see what Gilbert was diving towards, but just before he was about to contact the ground, he pulled his broom up, face screwed in concentration. Josie, very ambitious but not quite as skilled on a broom, pulled up too late, slamming into the ground at an angle and rolling down the field.

“Is she okay?” Anne said in alarm. It was a nasty move to feint, but Gilbert hadn’t forced Josie to follow, and Slytherin was much more guilty of playing dirty at this point. Josie had managed to pull up enough to slow herself, and appeared roughed up but still able to play. She clambered back onto her broom furiously, but Gilbert was practically on the other side of the pitch now, speeding towards something again.

Anne saw - the Snitch really was there now, Gilbert only meters behind it, Josie still recovering from the fall. Jane scored again, but it didn’t matter, because Gilbert had taken both hands off his broom to reach for the Snitch. His hand closed around it just in time to save himself from taking a hard fall.

The crowd erupted in cheers, the Slytherins noticeably silent and scowling as the Gryffindors stormed the field. Gilbert and Jane were lifted onto the shoulders of their fellow Gryffindors and paraded off the field triumphantly. The sound of their shouting was deafening. 

Anne couldn’t stop grinning, her hands numb from clapping.

* * *

Gilbert had attempted to wade towards Anne in the crowd, but he was swept away by the cheering Gryffindors to their common room. She gave him a proud thumbs up and he winked as he was ushered out of sight. Anne would see him tonight anyways, and he deserved to enjoy the win.

“Come on, Anne, let’s get ready,” Diana said, pulling her back towards the Ravenclaw tower.

“It’s 3:00!”

“Which means we only have four hours!” Diana said with urgency.

Anne felt very lucky to have Diana, because she hadn’t really had any experience with makeup or hairstyles more complex than her three-stranded braids. She agreed to do Anne’s makeup, and helped her tie her hair into some complex hairstyle that Anne could never have managed on her own. When she looked in the mirror again, Anne found herself practically unrecognizable - she still looked like her, but she was positively radiant. 

“Diana, you’re a miracle.”

Her friend blushed as she continued preparing for herself. Anne changed into her dress, still shaking a bit with nerves. They met the boys back in the Ravenclaw common room, where Charlie and Cole’s eyes widened at the sight of Diana, Anne, and Ka’kwet. They were wearing deep navy dress robes, and Anne thought with a smile that they both looked very handsome.

Charlie took Ka’kwet’s hand; they headed off to the Great Hall to meet the other three. Anne was thinking idly about how Gilbert would look when Cole prodded her in the side.

“Nervous?” he whispered, his eyes flashing with mischief. “Don’t be. You look amazing, Anne.”

Anne gave him a small smile, but Josie’s bitter words from the dress shop were still replaying in her head.

As they approached, they could see several clusters of students hanging around the area in front of the doors. Once they came into view, Anne saw that they had been propped open - loud music was echoing out into the hall and bright lights flashed from inside. 

Eliot was standing outside with a few Hufflepuffs, and strode over to meet Cole as they got closer. Jerry and Gilbert were still unseen. 

“Why don’t we just go in, then,” Diana said, taking Anne’s hand. She looked a bit nervous as well, which surprised Anne. She was easily one of the most beautiful girls in the school, especially tonight. She must be very taken with Jerry to be getting so anxious about seeing him.

There was music playing when they finally stepped into the Great Hall, and Anne’s jaw dropped at the sight of it. The four long tables were gone, replaced with a massive dance floor and more small circular tables to the sides. Beautiful blue drapes decorated the walls, and the sky - or ceiling, Anne supposed - was full of glittering stars. The floor seemed to glitter with snow, but was solid wood to the touch. 

Many students occupied the tables. There wasn’t anyone dancing yet, as Dumbledore was about to take the podium - although at the moment, him, McGonagall, and a few other teachers were at the front of the room, chatting.

She met Gilbert’s eye then - he was sitting at a packed table next to Jerry. It looked as if several students had tried to pull up chairs to sit with them. He and Jerry stood and excused themselves, hurrying over to Anne and Diana.

“Anne,” Gilbert said in astounded greeting. They begin walking towards a table where Charlie, Cole, Ka’kwet, and Eliot were already seated. “You look - you’re beautiful.”

Anne was very glad that he said this quietly and that the lighting was dim enough to hide the scarlet of her cheeks. “You look nice, too, Gil,” she said, and straightened the tie of his black dress robes. 

They took their seats at the table, Cole giving Anne a not very subtle wink when Gilbert wasn’t looking. 

“Congratulations on the match,” Anne said to Gilbert as he turned back to her. “One of your better performances, I have to admit.”

“Felt good to put Billy in his place,” Gilbert said with a smirk. He seemed like he was about to say something else, but Dumbledore’s voice suddenly sounded across the room.

“Students, welcome,” he chortled as the last few students seated themselves at tables. “I hope you will all enjoy yourselves tonight, and that a bit of old-fashioned fun will liven the mood. Now, as is traditional for the Winter Ball, we will begin with a waltz.”

A slow music filled the room, and Dumbledore took the floor unabashedly with Professor McGonagall. Several students stood, accompanying their dates onto the floor.

“Come on, Anne,” Gilbert said with a grin, pulling her to her feet and onto the dance floor before she could protest.

What followed made Anne laugh very hard. Gilbert, while somehow still looking charming on the dance floor, was a horrible dancer.

“Ha, ha, Carrots, laugh at the guy with two left feet,” Gilbert muttered good naturedly as he twirled her. 

“Glad we finally found something you’re awful at,” Anne giggled as he pulled her close to him again. She felt the heat rising to her cheeks again. 

“It’s just like any sport,” Gilbert said in concentration. “I just have to get a hang of the footwork-”

“OUCH - Gil, that’s my foot!” 

“Agh - my bad, Anne - I think I’m getting this, though,” he said with a grin as he lifted her into a spin. 

“You’re too bold for your own good,” Anne grumbled as he set her down, unable to stop the smile that crept onto her lips. She reached up then and her hand touched his cheek, then fell to his neck. Her thumb traced his jaw. He was suddenly looking at her very intensely.

The music ended, and the band kicked into a more lively song. The students crowded together suddenly, shouting and singing. Anne laughed as Gilbert loudly and awfully sang along.

The night felt very long. There were no more slow songs after the first, and Anne felt a mixture of emotions about this, the strange look in Gilbert’s eyes etched in her mind. Anne had never danced so much in her life. She didn't mind having Gilbert with her either, listening to his quips about other students and cracking up at his uncoordinated dancing. She forgot about Josie very quickly. 

By the end of the night, she sat with Diana, Cole, and Eliot at the table, watching the other students dancing. Gilbert and Jerry had set off a small Zonko’s firework from the center of the crowd, and now students were shouting gleefully around them. The bright orange sparks morphed into the shape of a roaring lion, and then into a huge dragon that danced over the crowd. Finally it exploded into a shower of sparks that dissolved into the air. Snape looked furious, but he hadn’t seen the culprits. Anne would normally scoff at this behavior, but her heart swelled sort of fondly at the sight of Gilbert laughing with Jerry, his collar loose and hair mussed. 

“How was your night, then, Anne?” Eliot asked politely, but his eyes reflected the same knowing look that Cole’s had earlier. 

Anne gave him a look, but glanced back at Gilbert. “It was fine, I suppose.”

“It was  _ fine,  _ she  _ supposes _ ,” Cole rolled his eyes. “If only she could have seen her face when they were dancing. And our dear Diana looked as if she may start floating when Jerry took her onto the floor.”

“Shut up, Cole,” Diana muttered. 

It was getting late, and students were beginning to leave the dance floor. Anne suddenly couldn’t find Gilbert in the crowd. She stood up, craning her neck to look for him.

McGonagall came bursting back into the room then, looking very serious. She headed straight for Dumbledore, whispered urgently to him, and then began moving between clusters of students, speaking to them hurriedly. Each group she spoke to went scrambling out of the Great Hall at her instruction. The music stopped suddenly, and the flashing colorful lights went out. There was only the sound of fearful whispering and feet against the floor as the students cleared out.

As McGonagall approached, Anne stepped forward, her expression wrought with concern. “Professor, what is it - what’s happened?”

McGonagall gave her a sad, strained kind of look, as if she was unsure whether to reveal this information to Anne. Her eyes were tired and brimming with tears. Anne’s heart fell to her stomach. She was unsure if she had ever seen McGonagall this way.

“Professor Stacy is gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a bit longer, but it's the longest one yet, so hopefully that makes up for it. It's unedited currently, but I'll go back to revise and fix a few things soon. I hope that you guys liked it, I'm not entirely happy with it but it was more difficult to write I think. Anyways, hope you are all well!


	8. Ministry Unraveled

Anne spent the next few weeks in a flurry of peeved correspondence with her parents back home in Avonlea. Professor Stacy had vanished without a note or word to anyone; her classroom and office were left in such a condition that no one, not even Dumbledore, knew what had occurred. Every quill was left in its prior position; a stack of half-graded parchment sat unobtrusively on her desk. In fact, even after days of merciless scouring, the castle was reported clear of any danger, and the classes which had been suspended were to be resumed again. 

This, however, did not ease the minds of any of the parents of Hogwarts students. Anne had never seen the Owlery so active, and her own owl, Edmund, was getting quite a bit of exercise bringing irritated letters between Marilla and herself. Anne was supposed to go home for the holidays to Green Gables, but was now entirely convinced that she would never return if she did, and was refusing to leave. The first letter had started:

_Dear Anne,_

_We have heard about your Professor’s vanishing. We are very concerned that Hogwarts may no longer be safe, and wish that you return as early as you are allowed for holidays. I know that you were very close with Professor Stacy, and we have been praying for her safe return._

_We will discuss how we will continue to deal with this matter upon your arrival at Green Gables._

_With love,_

_Marilla_

And underneath, in completely different handwriting (which indicated very little control over the contents of the letter):

_Matthew_

Anne had huffed at this, ranted for a few minutes to Diana and Cole about the horrifying prospect of not returning to Hogwarts, and written her own note right there at the breakfast table. She rolled up the napkin she had scrawled it on and tied it to Edmund’s ankle, feeding him a bit of toast before sending him off again.

_Dearest Matthew and Marilla,_

_I appreciate your concern over my safe return from Hogwarts. I assure you that the castle has been searched many times, and no such dangers have been found. As it happens, Professor Stacy’s room shows no indication that she did not simply decide to take a long vacation._

_I am considering staying at Hogwarts to comfort my fellow students during this time of uncertainty._

_Yours,_

_Anne_

Though Anne by no means believed that Professor Stacy had taken an unannounced vacation, she was sure that if Marilla thought anything dangerous was occurring, she’d never make it back. However, the Daily Prophet had reported on this apparent breach of security, exaggerating the truth as always, and Anne realized she couldn’t keep what happened from them. Which was why Marilla’s next letter back was, expectedly, much sharper:

 _Anne,_

It began, dropping the “dear,” which indicated immediately to Anne that she meant business.

_You are to return to Green Gables at your earliest opportunity. We will not allow you to remain at Hogwarts during the Christmas break. There is talk in the Ministry that this was the work of those dark wizards, and if they have infiltrated the school, you could be in peril. We will CONSIDER the possibility of you resuming school once holidays are over, should this be sorted out. That possibility remains only if you come home at once._

_Sincerely,_

_Marilla_

Matthew hadn’t signed that one, and Anne suspected that he wasn’t fond of the idea of keeping Anne from Hogwarts. He knew how much it meant to her. 

Marilla had been very clear - but Anne was positive that she would never really “consider” letting her come back to school. Which is why she, rather boldly, tacked one last letter to Edmund’s leg and sent him back to Green Gables, ruffling his feathers in annoyance from the endless journey back and forth.

_Marilla,_

_No._

_\- Anne_

She had received several letters afterward, a couple of which she tossed into the Ravenclaw common room hearth, the rest she tore up angrily at the breakfast table as more owls poured in with post. She dearly missed Matthew and Marilla, but she had to be sure she would get to stay at Hogwarts. And besides, there would be someone else who had nowhere to go for the holidays… 

Gilbert had been extremely quiet after what had happened, and Anne was unsure of whether it was about losing Professor Stacy or worrying about his father. It turned out, though, that Gilbert had taken this as an absolute indication of his father’s innocence. He had met with Dumbledore several times, according to rumors floating around school, only to be devastated by the news that the Ministry had not vindicated John Blythe.

In fact, Rita Skeeter had reported that she was certain John Blythe was somehow pulling the strings from Azkaban. Anne believed the quote had been “ _criminal mastermind John Blythe has orchestrated the kidnappings of several witches and wizards from behind bars, one of whom was employed at the wizarding school of Hogwarts, where obsolete Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has taken no action.”_

The Daily Prophet had started really getting on Anne’s nerves, and she could be heard loudly criticizing it nearly every morning as new editions came dropping in via owl. 

* * *

The Hogwarts Express arrived at 9:00 AM to bring students back to London for the holidays. Anne reluctantly bade goodbye to Diana and Cole, who wouldn’t be staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. Diana’s mother was very particular about Christmas tradition and getting the family together, so she had never spent holidays at Hogwarts. Anne usually would have had Cole for company over Christmas break, but he had gone to visit his brother, an Auror who worked somewhere in South America - Anne couldn’t remember.

Of her friends, only Charlie remained, and Anne thought she might explode if he forced her to play another game of Exploding Snap. She didn’t blame him; there were very few students who were allowed to stay for the holidays this year, with the disaster of Professor Stacy’s disappearance. Dumbledore had waved his wand and replaced the four long tables in the Great Hall with one smaller one, which was enough to seat the twenty or so students. 

Gilbert remained at Hogwarts, but he had been very closed off recently and Anne was afraid to ask why. She knew he spent long hours in the library, poring over _The Basic Guide to Ministry Law Enforcement_ and _A History of Azkaban_. Anne felt horrible. She couldn’t imagine if Matthew had been wrongfully sent to Azkaban, forced to have the happiness sucked out of him by dementors for months on end for a crime he did not commit.

It began to snow heavily, and Anne began visiting Hagrid every now and then to help him out with the bowtruckles he’d been keeping for their lessons. They were particularly nasty after several of their trees had been cut for Christmas decorations in the castle, and Hagrid much appreciated Anne’s help. Anne appreciated having someone to talk to besides Charlie.

When even that wasn’t enough, Anne finally resolved to just bite the bullet and talk to Gilbert. He needed someone to talk to anyways, and Anne was prepared to argue this point if he tried to push her out.

She checked the library and found him in a corner. He had three books open on his lap, but he was asleep, his head bent awkwardly onto his shoulder. Anne thought for a moment that it would be rude to wake him, but then remembered she had never exactly been the most well-mannered when it came to Gilbert.

“Gil!” Anne hissed, prodding him in the side. 

He recoiled, eyes opening in shock. “For the love of… Anne?”

“You fell asleep in the library.”

“Did I?”

“You need help, Gilbert,” Anne said, pulling the books off of his lap and stacking them on the table in front of him.

“I don’t,” he said through gritted teeth, eyes still half lidded with sleep. “I need to find some sort of loophole.”

“Gilbert!” Anne said seriously. She put both hands on his knees and looked him straight in the eyes, and he went quiet immediately.

“You’re not going to clear your father’s name all by yourself. What you need is to start sleeping again, and to try to take your mind off things until we figure out what we can do.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again, and his cheeks began to redden slightly. Anne had never seen him blush before, and realized why suddenly, ripping her hands away from him with embarrassment.

“You’re right,” he said to cover the awkwardness. “It’s just hard to stay busy when I know he’s in… there.”

“Why don’t we, er… go for a walk then. Get some fresh air?” Anne suggested, suddenly very much needing some.

He gave a small, resigned nod, and they headed out towards the castle grounds together, several feet of distance between them. The ground outside was blanketed in a layer of four or five inches of snow, and the air was still cold. Anne pulled her Ravenclaw scarf tightly around her neck. 

Hogwarts was very beautiful. It wasn’t that Anne hadn’t realized this before, but she thought that seeing it during Christmastime was something very different. It was much more peaceful; there were no kids magicking snowballs at each other, nor were there first years running around trying to retrieve their books from Peeves the Poltergeist (who was prone to stealing their belongings and laughing as they tried to get them back). 

Anne walked towards the Black Lake, which had frozen over in the cold. Gilbert followed close behind. Neither of them spoke, but it was so silent that they could hear the other’s long breaths and see the puffs of vapor from their mouths. 

“You don’t usually stay for Christmas, do you?” Gilbert said as they reached the Black Lake and began walking around its edge. 

“No,” Anne replied, staring out at the lake. “I’m supposed to be home right now, technically speaking.”

“Wait a minute,” Gilbert stopped. “You were supposed to go home for the holidays?”

“Well, yes.”

“And you just… refused to go?”

“Yes. Why have we stopped?”

“Anne, why?” he said with a laugh, walking again until the distance had closed between them and they could continue side by side. 

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to come back otherwise!” Anne squeaked defensively. “Plus, you seemed like you needed a friend.”

Gilbert gave her a sideways look. “You stayed to keep me company?”

“I stayed to make sure my parents wouldn’t lock me away!” Anne said. Her face, already pink from the cold, flushed even more. “But, yes, a bit because you were so grumpy and lonely looking.”

Gilbert was grinning, but Anne refused to look over at him. “Right then, if you came for that purpose, you better get on with cheering me up.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I am very grumpy and lonely,” said Gilbert, looking anything but. “And it’s your job to cheer me up again.”

“Is my presence not enough?” Anne snorted.

“Just shy of enough,” he replied. They had almost made it halfway around the lake now, and suddenly his eyes looked very mischievous. “Fine, I’ve got an idea.”

Gilbert headed straight towards the lake and poked a foot out, testing the icy surface. When it held his weight, he stepped carefully out. 

“Gilbert!” Anne exclaimed. “It could break - come back, you idiot!”

“It won’t break,” Gilbert said, creeping forward until he was several meters away from the edge of the lake. “I’m not so bad of a swimmer if it does.”

“People die from this all the time,” Anne shouted with irritation. “You stupid, Gryffindors, think you can do anything, and especially you, Gilbert Blythe-”

“Come on, Anne,” Gilbert goaded, interrupting her tirade. “I’ll come back just as soon as you take a few steps out.”

“There is absolutely no way.”

“I promise, you’ll be fine. The ice is perfectly thick. Take a risk, Carrots, it may do you some good.”

Anne looked at him haughtily, her eyes blazing as she stepped carefully out onto the ice. 

Gilbert was right. It was firm and held her weight easily. She edged out more, arms splayed out to her sides like a penguin taking its first steps. She could hear him stifling laughter.

“Gilbert, will you _shut up?”_ Anne said furiously. She took several steps then, and the ice was very slippery - suddenly she was skidding, slipping… 

Gilbert reached out to try to catch her, but she slipped beyond his grasp and landed right on her butt in front of him.

“We’ll work on that,” Gilbert said, cracking up as he reached his hand out to help her up.

Anne slapped it aside, stumbling to her feet, still slightly concerned about the ice underneath her. “ _I hate you_. Now come back to solid ground or I swear, Gil, I’ll hex you.”

“You don’t hate me,” Gilbert grumbled. 

Anne didn’t respond.

“You kinda like me,” he added arrogantly, taking her hand as they began making their way back to the edge of the lake. 

Anne gave him a furious look as he pulled her by the hand.

“Trust me Anne, this is purely utilitarian. Just making sure you get back to land on two feet,” he said with a smug smile. 

Anne didn’t respond, and let him walk her all the way back to the path, silently memorizing the feeling of his hand in hers. 

* * *

Everyone returned to Hogwarts after Christmas in high spirits. Anne was surprised but happy to see that almost everyone was able to come, even after Professor Stacy’s vanishing. It had helped that Cornelius Fudge had ordered Aurors at the gates of Hogwarts, and that several additional protective charms had been cast on the castle. However, a couple students had been forced to stay home - Priscilla Grant, a Gryffindor in their year, was apparently forced to stay home. Even worse, Miles Lauer, the Ravenclaw Seeker, was also banned from returning to Hogwarts until the year was over. They’d heard as soon as break began - Anne had received an owl from Cole. His parents were Muggleborn, and didn’t get much comfort from the claim that it was safest to be where Dumbledore was. This left Cole in a state of great stress, and the Quidditch captain Alice was fearfully planning emergency tryouts to fill the Seeker spot.

Anne had stopped receiving post from Green Gables, and was concerned that she had really done it this time. She would worry about that later - now there were classes resuming to worry about. 

Christmas had been wonderful. Anne had woken and unwrapped presents from Diana, Cole, and Charlie. Diana had gifted her a locket with a photo of them inside, waving and smiling on their first day of classes. Anne loved it, and had been wearing it every day since.

Cole had bought her an assortment of sweets, from Chocolate Frogs to Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans. Anne had already started in on some of them while reading in her dormitory, which was eerily quiet with the other girls gone. Charlie had bought her a plain yo-yo. (Charlie, who was a pure blood, had a running joke of purchasing the most mundane Muggle items for his friends, thinking they were revolutionary). 

Anne had even found a small package from Gilbert, and had unwrapped it with a sinking realization that she had not bought him anything. Inside was a little box, which opened to reveal a glittering golden ball. Anne picked it up, and two little wings unfurled from either side. It was a golden Snitch. Underneath, Anne found a scrap of paper folded into the container.

_You should go for that Seeker spot - and you’ll need to practice. If you're going to beat me, I want you to do it fair and square._

_\- Gilbert_

Anne grinned at the fluttering ball, letting it whiz around her room before catching it in her palm. Could she really play Quidditch again? He wasn’t joking - she’d need a lot of practice. But maybe it was worth a shot. Gilbert _had_ seen her fly already, and if he thought she could… 

Anne told Cole and Diana about everything that had happened over the holidays, omitting the time spent with Gilbert, which had been a bit more than they would consider friendly. To Anne it was perfectly platonic - Gilbert was the only interesting person worth having around - but she knew they’d think differently of her spending so much time alone with him. Anne would’ve much rather passed her time with Diana or Cole, she kept telling herself, if she could have.

There was a feast on the night of the return. The golden plates filled with mountains of food - beef stew, pumpkin pies, pasta salad, and buttered biscuits. Anne filled her plate, trading stories with the other returning Ravenclaws. Diana had a lot to say about Minnie May’s shenanigans over her holiday, and Cole had been relaying the stories his brother had told him from his job. 

At the end of the feast, Dumbledore stepped forward to the eagle podium, a more solemn look upon his face than the other students. “Now, now, everyone, settle down. I’d like to say a few words.”

After a few moments, the Great Hall fell into silence, and he continued. “I know a lot has happened recently, and that the transition back to Hogwarts was particularly difficult this time, especially with the absence of a few of our own. We are all hoping that Professor Stacy will be found and that there may be reason and sense behind all of this. However, until that happens, we must continue to learn.

“In Professor Stacy’s absence, Cornelius Fudge has appointed a Ministry official to carry on her Defense Against the Dark Arts classes and keep an eye on things at Hogwarts,” Dumbledore continued, a hint of distaste in his eyes. “So, I would like to introduce Professor Phillips, who will be here at Hogwarts until her return.”

“What does that even mean?” Diana whispered with a frown.

“It means the Ministry thinks Dumbledore doesn’t have this under control,” Cole muttered back.

Anne’s heart sank. She knew someone would have to be taking over for Professor Stacy, but the reality of a replacement struck fear into her. Was she really gone? Would she even come back?

The man that stood at the edge of the teacher’s table was very tall. He had a skinny face, with bony features and narrowed blue eyes. He had a thin, oiled mustache and unsmiling eyes. Phillips raised his hand in silent greeting - Anne felt as though his piercing eyes were boring through the students. 

They were sent off to their dormitories then, students still chatting about their holidays and gossiping about the new teacher. And even though she had eaten enough food to last her a week during the feast, Anne felt very hollow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this one! thanks for all your lovely comments <3


	9. The Inside Job

The castle felt very different without Professor Stacy. It had been easier for Anne to pretend that things were normal during holidays, when Hogwarts was supposed to feel empty and quiet. Now that everyone was back, it only emphasized the fact that there were a couple people that were still very much missing.

Anne had been occupying herself with Quidditch practice. Not with the team of course - tryouts would be at the end of the month - but she had been going down to the pitch almost every night, where Cole would help her remember the intricacies of Quidditch rules.

“There are like, 700 different kinds of fouls, but you won’t have to worry about that much as a Seeker,” Cole had told her as they rushed across the pitch on their brooms, tossing the Quaffle between them. “Not that you wouldn’t make a great Chaser,” he’d added thoughtfully as Anne made a sharp sideways shot from the edge of the scoring zone. 

Anne had released her shiny new Snitch on the pitch as well, chasing after it and ignoring Cole’s quizzical face upon seeing that Anne owned one. It was harder to catch it on one of the school brooms that Anne had to ride than it would’ve been on Gilbert’s Comet Two-Ninety, but Cole assured Anne that she could ride Miles’s old broom if she made the team. Both Anne and Cole admitted as they returned, sweaty and excited, to the common room: Anne had a real shot at making the team for the remainder of the year. 

Gilbert had been dismayed that Anne refused to practice with him.

“I’m half the reason you’re trying out!” he’d said indignantly.

“That’s rich!” Anne had laughed, poking a finger into his chest with amused annoyance. “I can’t give up my tricks to the enemy, anyways.”

Phillips’ first real lesson came two weeks after school had resumed. The Ravenclaws entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts room warily, Anne and Diana making their way to their old seats near the front. Anne suddenly wished that she had sat farther away - she didn’t exactly enjoy the up close view of Professor Phillips.

Phillips wore ink-black robes with the Ministry logo imprinted on the lapel. He was staring down at them silently through narrowed blue eyes, and the room was noticeably absent of its usual chatter. Gilbert and Jerry slipped in last, laughing about something. The smiles were wiped from their face as soon as they realized that no one else was talking.

“How nice of you to join us, Mr. Baynard… _Mr. Blythe_ ,” Phillips said softly. Anne couldn’t read the cocktail of emotions on his face.

Gilbert and Jerry took their seats wordlessly. Anne tried to catch his eye, but Gilbert was staring stonily at Phillips. He had an unassuming look on his face, but Anne could tell that he was fuming. She’d forgotten how much Gilbert hated anything to do with the Ministry right now, but as she glanced back at Phillips, she could tell that he was about to make things worse. 

“Your father has given us quite a bit of trouble recently,” Phillips went on with raised eyebrows. “I should only hope that his only son won’t repeat his mistakes.”

Gilbert only gritted his teeth, looking furious. 

Phillips looked satisfied with this, and returned to address the class. “As for the rest of you; I am to be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, since your last one wasn’t keen on staying, apparently.”

Anne clutched her hand into fists, nearly drawing blood. He had the nerve to comment on Gilbert _and_ Professor Stacy? Maybe Gilbert was right about Ministry incompetence.

“Open your books to chapter fourteen, we’re studying ghouls,” he said, somehow looking irritated already. 

“That skips three units,” Anne blurted out, trying to keep the distaste out of her voice.

“Speaking out of turn already, Miss Shirley?” Phillips retorted. “I was under the impression that I was the teacher, unless you think you’re fit for the job?”

Anne felt her cheeks flush and bit her tongue. Gilbert looked as if he wanted to leap out of his seat at Phillips.

“Right. Chapter fourteen then,” Phillips continued, no one daring to interrupt for the remainder of class.

“What a nightmare, he is,” Diana whispered once they were safely out of earshot and the end of class. Gilbert had practically bolted out of the room as soon as the class ended, looking as if he seriously needed to blow off steam. Anne thought about following him, but instead stayed with Diana and Cole, heading back to the common room. 

“Professor Stacy is twice the teacher that idiot is,” Cole added as they rounded a corner. “He didn’t even let us up out of our seats once during that whole lesson. And did you see Tille Boulter? She looked terrified just to be asking a question.”

“Not to mention the little talking to that he gave Gilbert,” Anne muttered. “Cole, let’s go. You have to help me practice one more time.”

Tryouts were that afternoon, and Anne’s stomach was doing flips at the thought of it. Cole had decided to lend Anne his broom, taking a school broom instead. He didn’t want anything impeding Anne from getting the Seeker spot. 

“It’s a bit more difficult to find a Seeker than the other positions,” Cole said as they arrived on the pitch. A couple of other Ravenclaws were milling around nervously, clutching broomsticks. They only had an hour until Alice would get there - she was always perfectly on time. “You can’t assess it as easily - loads of it is luck. Fortunately, you’ve already got the best build for it out of the people trying out - light and agile. I can’t believe Gendry Pritchard is trying out, he’s practically six foot four.”

Anne looked sideways at Pritchard, who really was huge, stretching at the side of the field. Cole handed her his broom as he retrieved one of the school brooms from the broomshed, and they kicked off into the air, doing a few laps of the pitch to warm up.

“Anyways, Anne, I think even Alice reckons you’re the one for the spot after she’s seen who’s trying out,” Cole continued as they finished a second lap. “To be fair, I have been talking you up an awful lot…”

She practiced with her Snitch for a while, Cole lobbing it in random directions. They waited for a while before Anne would go off to retrieve it. Cole’s broom was much easier to control than the school broom she had been using, and she was even faster in catching it than usual. 

“You’ve got a good eye for it,” Cole grinned as she stuffed the golden ball in his hand again and again. 

Their hour of practice was soon up, and the stands were starting to fill with sparse crowds of people that had come to watch tryouts. Anne was a bit horrified to see Josie and Billy giggling and staring at her derisively from the edge of the pitch. But even worse, Diana had come in with Ruby, Moody, Charlie, and … _Gilbert._

They were _all_ coming to watch her play? What if she did horribly? What if she fell off her broom? She could stand the mocking words she’d get from Josie, but now she’d have to make a fool of herself in front of everybody.

Gilbert gave her a thumbs up, and Anne suddenly felt like she would throw up. 

“Back on the ground, everyone!” Alice was calling loudly from the center of the field. 

“Good luck,” Cole whispered, and they returned to the ground. Anne joined the other players trying out as Cole stood behind Alice, along with a couple other members of the team. 

There were about ten people standing alongside her: Gendry, who towered above everyone; Laura Mitchell, a tall and slim fourth year; a pair of sixth year twins that Anne didn’t recognize; and some second years. Cole was right; Anne fit the description of a Seeker best, although Laura Mitchell looked like she’d give her a run for her money.

“We’re going to run a couple drills first to test your agility on a broom,” Alice said, her face looking very serious. “Then we’ll do some practice with a real Snitch.”

Anne felt her heart lurch as they kicked off the ground. Alice, Cole and Delphine demonstrated a couple of drills, each of them looking very controlled on their brooms. Anne suddenly wished she had practiced more with Cole’s broom as the players trying out proceeded one by one, mimicking Alice’s sharp turns and loops. 

Anne found this easy enough - Cole had done the exact same drill with her for hours the week before. Unfortunately, Laura Mitchell was equally comfortable on a broom, and executed the drill just as well. Gendry Pritchard, however, nearly fell off a couple times.

They did this for about thirty minutes - Alice would perform difficult dives and tricks, and each player had to replicate her moves. Anne and Laura did all of them with ease, and were the clear contenders. Finally, Alice stopped them all, and cut a few of the worst players, sending them miserably to the ground. 

When Alice whipped out the Snitch, it was just Anne, Laura, and the twins remaining. 

“Now, the job that we really need you to do,” Alice said with a smile, “is catch _this_. Impress me.”

With that, Alice released the Snitch, and it went rocketing away. Anne kept a close eye on it, but Alice kept them there for several moments more, only letting them go when the Snitch had disappeared from sight.

The four of them spread evenly on the pitch - it was getting darker, and Anne felt relieved that she had practiced in the dark before, and was accustomed to the dull flicker of the Snitch at twilight - Laura looked a bit panicked as the sun began disappearing behind the trees. 

She let her eyes travel to her friends briefly, where she saw Diana and Charlie looking very nervous. Gilbert and Ruby each had a calculating expression, as if they were assessing the potential weaknesses of all the players. Anne ripped her eyes away, lapping the pitch several times in search of the Snitch.

It had been nearly ten minutes of blind searching when Anne saw it - a glimmer all the way on the opposite side of the field, just under where Laura Mitchell was flying. Her heart dropped; if she headed for the Snitch, Laura would be able to easily dip down to where she was looking and get there first. 

Anne took a deep breath, knowing that she had to do this very carefully. Then, she began diving down towards the center of the field, hoping with all her heart that this would work, and keeping an eye on the Snitch on the edge of the field.

The twins came rocketing towards her from opposite sides of the field and crashed into each other; Laura had started towards her as well, flying speedily towards the spot that Anne was diving towards.

Anne grinned, and just as the three other players had gotten over to where she was, Anne went zooming towards the area that Laura had just left - she could still see it - a shadowy glimmer flashing through the dark.

The other three realized too late. Anne had faked them _all_ out, and was now flying unopposed at the Snitch. She had done this part countless times, and her nerves had completely gone after successfully throwing off the others. With a bit of help from Cole’s speedy broom, Anne caught up to the Snitch, seizing it out of the air. 

Anne distantly heard cheers from the stands, but she felt so overwhelmed with adrenaline that she thought she would faint. Alice, Cole, and Delphine had reached her, each of them chatting excitedly as they pulled her back down to the ground.

“Anne that was amazing-”

“You led them all away!”

“Anne, great job,” Alice said matter-of-factly as they landed back on the ground. “That’s exactly what we need in a Seeker - not just quick and agile, but _smart_.”

Laura Mitchell and the twins looked furious, but Anne didn’t care, Cole was already rushing her back to their friends. Diana and Charlie crushed her in a hug, and Ruby and Moody were even grinning widely and congratulating her. 

“They’ll surely pick you now!” Diana exclaimed shrilly.

“You were amazing, Anne,” Gilbert added in a low voice, falling in step with her as the others started back up to the castle. There was something like admiration in his eyes. “You’ve given me something to worry about.”

“Well, that is always my goal,” she said teasingly back. 

For the first time in a while, Anne felt really, really good.

* * *

Anne had begun practicing with the team nightly. She knew what Cole meant now when he grumbled on and on about how hard of a captain Alice was. She kept going on about “establishing a new team dynamic” now that Anne was officially on the team, but Anne loved practice. She felt free from worrying about everything else when she was on a broom.

Her time on the Quidditch pitch was especially valuable because Anne spent a lot of time worrying about Gilbert now. Phillips was being particularly hard on him, and his patience seemed to be waning. The next time she was in the library with Gilbert, he looked very thoughtful.

“What’s going on with you?” she asked finally, prodding him with her foot under the table.

“You really wanna know?” he said, keeping his head down.

“I really wanna know.”

Gilbert lifted his head, a half smile gracing his face for a brief moment at her response. “Anne, I know you’re always saying that I shouldn’t worry about my dad when there’s nothing I can do.”

“Mmhm.”

“But… there is something I can do now,” Gilbert said, leaning forward and lowering his voice. 

“No,” Anne whispered back, realizing what he meant. “No, if he sees…”

“I have to!” Gilbert said with a sort of desperate urgency that made her heart swell. “Phillips is with the Ministry… he’s got loads of those documents in his office… he still does Ministry work when he’s not teaching.”

Anne was shaking her head, but he was right. There was something they could do now. “Well… fine, we’ll do it tonight, while he’s meeting with the other teachers.”

“Anne - no, I didn’t mean both of us!”

“You can’t do this alone, you need someone to watch your back.”

“Anne, really, you shouldn’t risk-”

“I’m coming!” Anne said sharply, and his gaze softened. “Meet me at the base of the Ravenclaw tower at 8.” 

Gilbert nodded wordlessly, and they left.

* * *

The night came quickly, Anne’s stomach lurching the more she thought about what they were doing. Breaking into a teacher’s office… they could get in so much trouble if they were caught. But if they didn’t, they’d never find out what was happening with Gilbert’s father.

Gilbert met her at the tower that night. Anne made an excuse about forgetting her quill in a classroom, and had left the common room before anyone could argue, leaving Diana and Cole staring after her in confusion. They walked down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room together quietly. Most students were back in their common rooms by now, but curfew hadn’t begun, so they couldn’t be in trouble for being out - although Snape had given them a very suspicious look as they passed his classroom. He no doubt suspected they were up to something entirely different, a fifth year boy and girl slinking off late at night.

“I asked McGonagall if I could meet her tonight for some extra help on Switches,” Anne whispered to Gilbert. “She told me she couldn’t between 8:30 and 9:30, which should mean we have about an hour.”

“You are brilliant, you know,” Gilbert said from behind her, and Anne was glad that he couldn’t see her flush at his words.

They stopped when they were just around the corner from his room. Phillips strode out of his room, luckily heading in the opposite direction. They poked their heads out, waiting for him to cross into a different corridor before sneaking up to his door.

“Locked, of course,” Gilbert muttered.

“ _Alohomora_ ,” Anne whispered, pointing her wand at the lock. It clicked open. “What an idiot of a teacher. Defense Against the Dark Arts, and his lock opens with a spell from _The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1_.”

Gilbert beamed at her as she opened the door and they hurried in, locking it behind them. The room was dim. Everything that had belonged to Professor Stacy was gone now, replaced with books and photos of Phillips with the Minister, or awards he had won. Anne scowled at one that read ‘ _Most Charismatic!_ ’ in which Phillips smiled toothily in the form of a small statue.

“Here,” Gilbert whispered, yanking open the bottom drawer of a dresser that he had unlocked with the same charm Anne used on the door. It was full of parchment, filed into various folders. “No way… Ministry cases.”

Anne swallowed hard, knowing that if they were caught looking at these, it would mean certain expulsion. Gilbert pulled them out, sorting through quickly. Anne stood by the door, listening intently for footsteps.

Several minutes later, she saw Gilbert had stopped rooting through them, and was staring down at one. Anne hurried over to him and picked up the file he was looking at.

It was, indeed, John Blythe’s case. Reading it was like a punch to the gut. Gilbert was silent, staring hard at the table. 

Gilbert’s father wasn’t even holding a wand when he was found. It was all the way across the room. He wasn’t even standing over the body; he was kneeling by it. Furthermore, he hadn’t been alone when the Ministry team arrived. Phillips was there too. 

Beyond that, Phillips, who had been assisting the investigation, had said that he’d found John there with the body, and allegedly disarmed him. He’d given the same story to the court, and he and Fudge had been among those leading the charge to imprison Blythe. 

“It was him,” Gilbert said, fury mounting in his voice. “He… blamed my father… he’s got more sway with Fudge, and my father wasn’t supposed to be on the case…”

“Phillips wanted the glory of finding the killer,” Anne breathed. “So he must’ve gone ahead, and found your father… assuming him guilty without investigating properly. And Fudge just wanted to throw someone in Azkaban to resolve the problem, so he must’ve eaten that story up…”

“My father’s in _Azkaban_ because of him,” Gilbert said furiously.

“Gilbert, you have to be quiet,” Anne whispered urgently, shuffling the files together and stuffing them back in the cabinet.

“We don’t know what my father told Phillips - maybe he saw who really did it,” Gilbert said suddenly. “And I bet he didn’t even _listen_ to what my dad said… they could have found who actually did this!”

“ _Colloportus_ ,” Anne whispered once she had stuffed the files back in the cabinet. Its lock clicked back into place. “See - left, just as we found it…” 

Just as they had straightened up and begun to head towards the door, it clicked open on its own accord. Anne stopped breathing.

Phillips stepped in, his eyes widening in fury at the sight of them standing in front of him. “You - how _DARE_ you!” he bellowed.

Anne’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She had rehearsed a story just in case, but had great trouble in getting it out now. It sounded much stupider than when she had imagined it, but she had never intended on using it.

“S-sir, I left my locket in here, we just wanted to come get it,” Anne sputtered. 

“ _BOTH_ of you?” he shouted, not even slightly convinced. 

“I told Anne I thought I had seen it in here,” Gilbert tried to add, failing to keep the edge of anger out of his voice.

“I could have you _expelled_ for this,” Phillips continued in a sharp voice. “I’m not just a teacher, I’m with the _Ministry_. And you, Blythe… want to join your father in Azkaban, do you?!”

Just as Gilbert angrily opened his mouth to say something that would have likely condemned them both, McGonagall came sweeping in. 

“What is the meaning of this?” she asked curtly.

“Students in my office! Looking through my things, I expect!” Phillips cried. 

Anne fed McGonagall the same story, but she didn’t look convinced either.

“Well, there’s nothing to indicate that they were not looking for Miss Shirley’s locket, is there,” McGonagall said slowly, to Anne’s surprise. She glanced at Phillips, who looked furious. 

“Fifty points from both of your houses, and detention, for breaking into a teacher’s classroom,” McGonagall added, disapproval in her voice. “I’m very disappointed in this. You could have waited, you could have asked… what you did was very foolish. Back to your common rooms, immediately.”

Anne and Gilbert hurried out, not even daring to speak to each other as they split off to go back to their common rooms.

Anne felt tears pricking in her eyes. She’d lost fifty points for Ravenclaw… Anne had lost points for Ravenclaw before, but never so much in one go. And the detentions would definitely get in the way of practice, and it was vital that they won the next game in order to make it to the final match for the Quidditch Cup. Alice would be furious with her, and Cole disappointed… 

But Anne didn’t feel regretful. They’d found out what was really happening with Gilbert’s father, and Phillips. She knew that somehow, they’d figure out a way to reveal this information, and the corruption that was happening in the Ministry. Phillips would get what he deserved. 

It was this, and this thought alone, that comforted Anne for her to fall eventually to sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting serious! Only three chapters left, oh my gosh. I'm considering a sequel at this point since this story is on the shorter side all things considered. Let me know what you think & thank you especially to the people that have left comments on this story almost every time I update... I appreciate it so much :)


	10. The Race for the Cup

Anne was wrong - Alice wasn’t furious. She was livid. Anne missed the next three days of practice, forced to scrub cauldrons with Snape one day, polish Phillips’ trophies the next, and wash the kitchens the last. She wasn’t allowed to use any magic, either. Cole didn’t make it any easier, as he kept updating Anne on Alice’s routine diatribes about the situation.

“She was talking about switching you out with Lauren, today, if it’s not too late,” Cole commented as Anne returned from the kitchens on the last day, dirty and exhausted.

“Cole, do you mind,” Anne hissed as she slumped into the chair beside him.

“What did you expect, Anne?” Cole replied. He’d been a bit frosty about the whole situation, as he wanted to win almost as much as Alice. “You hardly know the new plays Alice has been working on, and everyone’s morale is low now that we’ve been knocked to second in the House Cup!”

Anne buried her face in her hands. “I know! I was just… trying to help Gilbert, with his father and everything.”

“Cole, quit it! She’s heard enough,” Diana said, wrapping an arm around Anne and throwing a sharp look at him. “Listen, Anne, if we win against Slytherin, I’m sure all will be forgiven. You just have to practice really hard these last two days, and then give it your all in the match.”

Cole looked a bit sympathetic now as well. The last few days had been hell for Anne. The Ravenclaws had all been a bit short with her for losing their lead - it wasn’t typical for them to lose points for troublemaking. Gilbert had barely been punished by the Gryffindors at all - he was constantly losing points for his dumb tricks with Jerry, and they knew by now that he always made up for it with Quidditch. 

Even Charlie and Ka’kwet had been distant lately. Anne felt lucky to have Diana, who had stood by her through it all. She was right, too - if Anne could just help Ravenclaw beat Slytherin at the match, then they’d be up against Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup. 

When they retired to the rooms that night, Anne had a lot of trouble falling asleep. She tossed and turned, stared out their window, read textbooks… nothing worked. She wished she could take her broom out to the pitch and run laps until she tired herself out, but she wouldn’t even be able to make it out of the Ravenclaw tower without Mrs. Norris catching her, staring with those big lamplike eyes. Filch would be there in a moment to drag her to Professor Flitwick, and she’d just lose more points for Ravenclaw. 

“ _ Lumos _ ,” Anne whispered, drawing the curtains around her bed and pulling out  _ Quidditch Through the Ages _ , which she had borrowed from Cole a couple weeks ago. She flipped through the book, watching the players zoom across the pages and execute the most difficult plays with ease. She couldn’t believe that she had gone from hardly touching a broom for years to Seeker for the Ravenclaws in a matter of months. She was reminded of the sensation of riding on Gilbert’s Comet Two-Ninety, rocketing through the air for the first time in years. She thought of his face smiling at her from the ground, and how he had caught her when she dismounted in a stumble. 

“ _ Nox _ ,” Anne muttered as her eyelids got heavier, swirling images of flying and broomsticks and Gilbert still in her head as she drifted to sleep. 

* * *

Anne was happy to see that Alice had stopped ignoring her by that Thursday afternoon, because they only had two more days of practice to prepare for the game on Saturday morning. She had instead settled on a businesslike but cool attitude, which was enough for Anne.

It felt good to be back on the pitch again, and the other players quickly warmed to her again as they began practicing together again. They’d been able to book the pitch for much longer hours since they had to ‘train’ Anne, so they stayed out there for hours. By the end of it, Anne was racing jovially with Jack and Dean, the Ravenclaw Beaters, and even Alice cracked a smile as they all sped across the field, bumping shoulders and grabbing each other’s brooms in an attempt to get to the front.

The Friday afternoon practice was more serious, and Alice ran drills with Anne mercilessly. She’d have to weave between the Chasers, avoid several Bludgers sent her way by the Beaters, and then catch a ball that Alice would throw to the opposite side of the pitch. The balls were smaller than the Snitch, and wingless - Anne had to get to them before they hit the ground, and while there were several close calls, she retrieved them all successfully.

This was only a small comfort to Anne, who could only imagine how much worse the Bludgers would be coming from Billy Andrews. Plus, she’d have to deal with Josie’s smack talk while actually on the pitch this time.

“Josie’s never been that great of a Seeker,” Cole tried to assure her as they headed back to the common room after Friday’s practice. It was pitch black outside, and they were both breathless with exhaustion.

“But Billy’s a great Beater,” Anne muttered. “And he’ll be targeting me the whole time.”

Cole pressed his lips together, knowing she was right. 

Sleep came easier that night, with exhaustion taking over as soon as Anne’s head hit the pillow. She felt like she had hardly slept a wink when Diana was shaking her awake again. 

“Anne, come on, you need to eat something before the game,” she was whispering.

Anne practically sleepwalked to the Great Hall with Diana, seriously questioning why she had joined the Quidditch team as she slumped into her seat.

Charlie and Cole joined them, eyeing Anne curiously.

“Nervous?” Charlie asked.

“She’s not even eating,” Diana responded for her as Anne stared at the toast, bacon, bagels and eggs laid on the table before her. She was unsure if she would be able to keep any of that down.

“I was even worse on my first day,” Cole said, shoveling eggs into his mouth. “Don’t worry, Anne, even if today goes terribly - no one will blame you.”

“Yeah, Billy’s broken Miles’s arms like six times,” Charlie offered. “But you’re way faster than he was,” he added hastily when Diana glowered at him.

Anne’s eyes wandered across the Great Hall. The Slytherins and Ravenclaws were all decked out in their house colors, and a few of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were wearing badges in support of either team. Most of the Gryffindors supported Ravenclaw as a result of their rivalry with Slytherin anyways, but Anne was still cheered up at the sight of Gilbert and Jerry wearing pins that flashed blue and bronze for Ravenclaw.

Edmund came fluttering down then, a small letter clutched in his talons. Anne let him perch on the table beside her, untying his note wordlessly. Her owl leaned down to pick at the bacon that Diana had forced onto Anne’s plate. The letter had scrawly, untidy handwriting that Anne recognized immediately.

_ Dear Anne, _

_ I know you and Marilla haven’t quite been speaking lately, but Mr. Mackenzie sent us an owl that mentioned you’re filling in on the Quidditch team, and I just wanted to say that I am very proud of you. I know she is too. _

_ Love, _

_ Matthew _

Anne rolled the letter up with care, her heart swelling. Matthew wasn’t furious with her, and she felt a little lighter at this news. She even ate a little bit of the food Diana had put on her plate.

She left with Cole a bit early from breakfast, numb to the cheers from the Ravenclaw table as the team all walked out. On the way to the locker rooms, Alice was running through the plays that she’d been discussing at practice all over again. Anne caught Delphine’s eye, and the younger girl rolled her eyes good naturedly. 

They changed into their blue robes and huddled together to hear Alice’s last speech before they headed onto the pitch. Anne clutched Miles’s broom tightly to keep from trembling.

“I know the last couple weeks have been really difficult,” Alice began, her blue eyes grim. “Losing Miles was a blow, but now we have Anne, and she’s become a valuable member of the team in a short time.” Anne was surprised at that, because Alice hadn’t indicated yet that she was over the whole detention thing. Jack gave her a comforting nudge beside her.

“Now, Slytherin likes to play aggressive, but we’re smarter than they are. And smaller. So play to our strengths - that means we need to be faster, and we need to use the plays that we’ve been planning. Otherwise they’ll knock us out.”

“Literally,” Dean muttered.

“Anne, you need to keep an eye out for Billy, and leave some space between you two,” Alice ordered.

“Yeah, that oaf is nearsighted anyways. He just lobs the Bludger at the nearest moving target,” Jack said.

“Last year he nearly took Madam Hooch’s head off,” Cole added, and a couple of them laughed weakly.

“The rest of you, play smart. And pass to Delphine if you can, she’s the fastest of us,” Alice said finally, and they all headed out onto the field.

The sun was blazing over the pitch, and Anne could see that the stands were full. There was thunderous applause, but it felt so far away that she could hardly hear it. She thought that she maybe saw Charlie setting off some sort of miniature firework at the front of the Ravenclaw stands. 

Anne turned her attention to Madam Hooch, who was speaking to Billy and Alice, eventually allowing them to shake hands and return to their teams. 

“Mount your brooms,” she barked after a few moments, and Anne nervously swung a leg over her broom. She caught Josie’s eye, who was grinning smugly. 

Suddenly remembering Matthew’s note, Diana’s encouragement, and Gilbert’s badge, Anne pushed the nerves from her stomach and kicked off at the sound of the whistle. She headed straight up, circling the match as Alice had instructed. She could hear Josie nearby, shouting at her, but she ignored it.

Watching a Quidditch game from above was quite different, and Anne had to struggle not to get lost in spectating and forget her job. Delphine weaved expertly through the Slytherin Chasers, twirling to avoid a Bludger and scoring on Slytherin right away.

Even Moody’s loud commentary was background noise to her as Anne strained her eyes over the pitch. Every dewy blade of grass seemed to reflect the golden sunlight, and Anne nearly started towards the crowds a couple times, thinking she saw the Snitch in the reflections of their binoculars.

“Your boyfriend’s rubbing off on you, huh?” Josie yelled at her over the wind. “Think you can play Quidditch now?”

Anne whipped her head up to look at Josie, and a Bludger nearly knocked her off her broom, grazing her shoulder. Billy Andrews was staring up at her from below. They were clearly trying to distract her. 

Jack Wallace whipped a Bludger Josie’s way, and she swerved away from Anne to avoid it.

“Alright, Anne?” Jack called up to her as he rejoined the Chasers below.

Anne flew to the opposite side of the field, lowering slightly to get a better vantage point over the pitch. It was way different than practice; before it had been one team, flying around with a Quaffle while she searched for the Snitch. Now there were two, and on top of that, the entire school watching and shouting from the stands. All the sensory input was dizzying.

They were up, though not by much. The score was 50 - 30 the next time that Anne focused enough to hear Moody’s voice echoing from the stands. Just as Anne was about to let off some steam with a couple laps above the pitch, she saw a flash of gold near the stands.

Josie Pye saw it too, and was way ahead of her, trying to avoid another Bludger sent her way by Dean. Anne gained on her quickly, and soon they were shoulder to shoulder, the Snitch only meters ahead. She could vaguely hear Moody mentioning her name, but all that registered in her head was the golden blur in front of her and the Slytherin Seeker on her left. 

The Snitch started weaving wildly around the field as if it gained an extra spurt of energy, and Anne lost sight of it as it flitted past Delphine and out of sight. Lucky for her, Josie had lost it too, and both of them ascended back to their original spots, breathing heavily and feeling very disappointed. 

The adrenaline faded out, and Anne sighed heavily, briefly allowing her eyes to wander to the Ravenclaw stands, where Diana and Charlie were brandishing a banner that now displayed both Cole’s name and hers. 

The experience of actually being in the game was different than Anne had thought. Every moment was tense, and she could barely relax herself. She couldn’t lose her focus for even a second, or she might miss something - and if she wasn’t keeping track of the game, she could mess it up by catching the Snitch early (although Ravenclaw’s Chasers made that unlikely). Seeker was the most stressful position to play too - Ravenclaw couldn’t win without her.

“Fuller shoots - SLYTHERIN SCORES!” Moody shouted, snapping Anne’s attention back to the game. Alice looked furious as Fuller went to high five his teammates gleefully. Then, to Anne’s delight, another flash of gold. She blinked several times, and it was still there, whizzing by the left Ravenclaw goalpost. 

Anne glanced at Josie, but she was cheering at the goal. She’d only have a few moments before Josie caught on to what Anne had already seen. She crept towards Alice, still staying above the match as if she hadn’t seen anything. The Snitch was still buzzing off to the left of the posts - Alice hadn’t even seen it. 

Nerves mounted in Anne’s stomach as she heard shouts and cheers signifying a Ravenclaw goal. She was numb to it all, now positioned directly above the Snitch, which was drifting closer to the ground. When Anne looked up at the game one last time, she saw a Bludger and a Slytherin Seeker careening towards her.

But it was too late; Anne launched herself into a vertical dive, shooting towards the ground so fast that her red hair whipped straight behind her. The Snitch shot away as she reached the ground, and she pulled up from the dive, Josie still a fair bit behind. The Snitch darted across the pitch, only about a meter above the ground. Anne was only vaguely aware of what was happening above her as she chased after it.

Suddenly, it shot up, straight into the thick of the action. Determined not to let it slip away again, Anne followed, nearly knocking Cole off his broom, but dodging the players as she flew after it. Josie hadn’t come after her, probably saving her from some brain damage.

Now that she was actually in the middle of the game, it was much more difficult than she imagined in her head. The Snitch first lurched towards the Slytherin goalposts, and Billy sent a Bludger to her face that missed by so little that Anne could hear it whipping past. She twirled upside down to avoid another moving object from hitting her - it had been Cole with the Quaffle - and when she righted herself, she saw the Snitch take a sharp turn back towards the left side of the pitch. 

Two of the Slytherin Chasers came flying straight at her. She wasn’t sure if they were attempting to block her, or if she was just in their way, but Anne ducked in time to dodge them, dipping towards the ground again. Finally, the Snitch was practically within arm’s reach, she was gaining, she could feel the fluttering wings against her fingertips…

_ THUD _ . 

Anne went flying off her broom and rolled across the field, sending shooting pain through the leg that she’d landed on. She heard the whistle blow, heard her teammates flying towards her in a flurry of brooms and voices. 

“Anne, are you alright?” she heard Delphine say.

“Billy knocked you straight off your broom!” Cole exclaimed.

“It was an egregious foul, they ought not to let him play anymore,” Alice muttered.

Anne pulled herself up, her leg in enough pain to bring tears to her eyes - but only grinned as she held out her hand. 

“She’s caught the Snitch!” Moody bellowed. “RAVENCLAW WINS, 230 - 60!”

* * *

The incident with Phillips was forgotten by the time Anne made it back to the common room from the hospital wing. Her ankle was sprained, but not badly, and Madam Pomfrey had made quick work of fixing it. She’d reluctantly let her leave when the entire Ravenclaw Quidditch team and all of Anne’s friends had arrived begging for her to join the celebration. 

She could hardly believe it. They’d won their first game… Ravenclaw would advance to the Quidditch final. They would get the chance to go against Gryffindor in the finals. She’d face off with Gilbert - but Anne didn’t want to think about that now. Right now, she wasn’t a misfit, or an orphan. She was a star, for the first time in her life.

The Ravenclaws cheered loudly when she entered the common room. Charlie and Cole had wanted to hoist her onto their shoulders, but Alice had snapped at them about Anne’s hurt ankle, and they reluctantly agreed. There was tons of food - Anne expected that most of it had been nabbed from the kitchens. The house elves would whip up anything if you asked, although strictly speaking, students weren’t allowed in the kitchens. She suspected Charlie had dipped in while she was in the hospital wing. 

Anne got the chance to speak with the team briefly, trading each other’s accounts of what happened.

“Anne that dive was amazing,” Delphine was saying excitedly. “I reckon even Miles would be proud.”

“You practically scored half our goals, Del,” Anne grinned back at her. 

“Really great, Anne,” Alice added. “Now we’re going to have our work cut out for the Gryffindor match-”

Jack cut her off with a load groan. Dean and Cole joined in, and Anne laughed. 

“Jeez, Alice, enjoy the celebration,” Jack said, slinging an arm around her shoulders with a wide smile. “We can worry about Blythe and his perfect team later.”

Anne stuffed herself with pastries with Diana, who was ecstatic about the win. Charlie started setting off more of those little fireworks, and the Ravenclaws, who usually weren’t the biggest partiers, stayed around to talk cheerily for a couple hours before slowly clearing out. 

“So, homework?” Anne said as she slumped onto the couch next to Cole and Diana.

“No way,” Cole said, kicking his feet up. “I think we’ve earned a break.”

“Really, Anne, you want to start working now? It’s only Saturday.”

“I don’t even want to see a textbook until Sunday night. Or Monday morning,” Cole added.

“You know I like doing my work on Saturdays anyways,” Anne shrugged, gathering her books together. “Then I can actually enjoy the weekend.”

Diana gave her a weak smile, and Cole was unresponsive.

“Fine,” she laughed. “Then I’ll just go to the library, so Cole doesn’t have to catch a glimpse of any Arithmancy.”

Cole gave her a satisfied thumbs up as she stepped out, walking gingerly to support her bad leg. It only ached dully now.

A couple Ravenclaws congratulated her as she passed them in the corridors; even a few Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs grinned at her. She caught Josie’s eye - she was lingering in the hall with a couple other Slytherins - but she only leered as Anne passed, saying nothing.

Anne felt quite happy with this as she reached the library, dumping her books down on the desk and thinking idly about the match, replaying it in her head.

“No hello?”

Anne jumped, clutching a hand to her heart. “Jeez, you scared me.”

“Man, she wins one Quidditch game and all of the sudden you’re invisible,” Gilbert smirked. He had been sitting across from the spot she had approached - which was unsurprising, it’s where they always went - but somehow Anne had been caught up in her thoughts enough to not even notice him.

“Well, I guess I’m the new Quidditch celebrity here,” she grinned. “Impressed?”

“Oh, absolutely,” he replied, flashing his Ravenclaw badge. “I’m your biggest fan.”

Anne smiled, spilling her Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Arithmancy textbooks on the table.

“Ambitious,” Gilbert commented, scrawling on some parchment. 

“I just want to get all my work done so I can focus on practice,” she said, looking up at him, but he was fixated on his essay. “Big game ahead.”

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten,” Gilbert said. “But, there was one thing that I did want to talk about.”

When Anne looked up, Gilbert looked serious. He slid his chair around the corner of the table so they were sitting closer together, and leaned in. Anne was distantly aware of that piney smell again, but pushed that thought away.

“About what we saw. I was thinking,” he breathed. “What if Phillips isn’t entirely innocent… in all of this?”

“What do you mean,” Anne asked, her brow furrowing.

“I mean, we never considered it, because it’s awful, but…” Gilbert leaned even closer, his voice full of urgency. “What if Phillips killed that Ministry woman?”

“No,” Anne shook her head. “There’s no way. Dumbledore would never let him come to Hogwarts if he thought for a minute-”

“Dumbledore had no say! He’s  _ Ministry-appointed _ . Fudge sent him here himself,” Gilbert responded. “What if the whole thing is an inside job, someone trying to … I don’t know… topple the Ministry?”

“You think Phillips killed Clarisse Fairchild, and framed your father? Gil, I don’t know, there’s nothing to prove that.”

“There was nothing to prove that my dad did it,” Gilbert said. “And apparently he’s been pestering Dumbledore about the case since he got here. I know it’s crazy, I just have this feeling… I don’t trust him, Anne.”

“Okay,” Anne said, reaching for his hand. “So we’ll keep an eye on it.”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is sort of all over the place. Thanks so much to the people who responded to the idea of a sequel, I'd love to write one, since I've still got all this time. I feel like writing this gives me some structure and an outlet, and it makes me really happy to hear that people get the same happy HP vibes from this that I hoped it would give <3


	11. The Forbidden Forest

Two months had passed since Anne’s first game as Seeker. Spring had arrived, and with it, the overwhelming reality that the fifth years would have to be sitting for their OWLs soon. Anne spent nearly all her free time in the library with Diana, Cole, or Gilbert, poring over textbooks and homework in preparation. More than once, Anne had fallen asleep face-first on her parchment and woken up with ink smudged across her cheeks. 

As the date of the final Quidditch match drew closer, tensions mounted at the castle. Anne hardly had time to study outside of the grueling practices that Alice had been putting together. They ran drills for hours, whenever Alice could book the pitch, and only stopped when it was barely light enough to see what was in front of you. Alice, Belle, and Dean were especially keen on winning, since they were 16 and 17, and likely wouldn’t get another opportunity to score the Quidditch Cup for Ravenclaw. 

Whatever alliance had been forged between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw during the match against Slytherin had dissolved completely. With the growing rivalry between their houses, Anne and Gilbert spent considerably less time together. It wasn’t so much that they were competitive enough to forget their friendship - the reality was that between OWL preparation and Quidditch practices, neither had much time to linger in the library or chat. Anne found this a bit disconcerting, though, because on top of everything, she had become much more concerned about Mr. Phillips. They hadn’t broached the topic in weeks, but Anne could see it weighing on Gilbert’s mind as much as hers in Defense Against the Dark Arts - one of the few times she did get to see him.

Phillips had been especially unpleasant as of late, and seemed to be severely distracted during classes. Charlie and Cole had spent an evening in the Ravenclaw common room entertaining everyone with guesses of what could be bothering him.

“I heard that he was still working on Ministry cases in his free time,” Cole offered. “Maybe he got into a bad spot with a troll, or a couple of goblins.”

“I reckon he’s just run out of his mustache oil,” Charlie commented lazily, snickering with the others.

What most concerned Anne, though, was the lesson he gave a week before the Quidditch game. Perhaps if Phillips really was still involved in Ministry business, he would still be working on Gilbert’s father’s case. It was the only thing Anne believed could be distracting him - and if Gilbert was right that he had done something… it seemed impossible, but could that be what was making him act strangely?

As the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors filed into class, it was bitterly quiet as usual. Phillips strode in, robes billowing behind him, flicking his wand casually. Their textbooks all sprang open to the chapter they were studying. 

He had been giving this type of lackluster instruction more and more lately - he would force them to read, then lecture them on the topic. With magical beasts, it was somewhat understandable that he didn’t want them practicing in the classroom. After all, they’d been studying unicorns and vampires, and they weren’t exactly easy to control. But spells? Professor Stacy had always allowed them the opportunity to practice spells - there was really no other way to get the hang of it.

Anne leaned over her textbook, and saw that it was open to the Stunning spell. She’d seen it used before, had read about its countercurse a couple of times. Phillips left them in silence for several minutes before raising his voice.

“ _Stupefy!”_ he shouted, startling the entire class. Tillie Boulter nearly fell out of her seat, and Anne thought for a moment that she had been his target.

It was, however, Jack Wallace’s rat. It had somehow escaped his bag and scuttled across the floor, but was now lying motionless. Jack could only gape at Phillips, his eyes helplessly sliding back and forth between his pet and his professor.

“Quite a useful spell,” Phillips said softly. “I should hope you would never have to use it, but one never can know when they’ll be in need of defensive spells, of course.”

He turned and paced the room, leaving Jack to scramble to the floor and collect his limp rat from the ground. Anne gave him a sympathetic look.

“The Stunning spell will leave your enemy defenseless, but not for long. It has a simple counterspell, and it won’t do much against a real threat,” he continued, voice still icy. “Of course, a Dark wizard wouldn’t hesitate to use a much more dangerous spell. You are too young for these, and as such are ill-equipped to face a threat like that.”

Phillips turned and faced the class, his face stony. “Its counterspell can be found on page 413. This spell-”

“ _Ennervate_ ,” Jack tried to whisper, prodding his rat with his wand. He’d already been scouring his book for the counterspell, but it hadn’t worked. The rat was still stunned, its head lolling weakly. 

“WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SPELLS IN MY CLASS!” Phillips bellowed before Jack could even look up. He was at Jack’s side in an instant, and to everyone’s horror, his wand was raised to his chin, nearly poking at him.

“S-sorry, sir,” Jack stuttered, taken aback by his teacher pointing a wand directly at his face. Phillips seemed to draw back from his momentary anger, and pocketed the wand quickly, as if the class hadn’t seen. Anne exchanged an alarmed glance with Gilbert.

“I do not allow my students to perform magic unless it is at my instruction, Mr. Wallace,” Professor Phillips said through gritted teeth. “I will return your rat to his former state at the end of class, if you can stand to follow my simple rules until then. 10 points from Ravenclaw.”

“But you stunned his pet!” Gilbert blurted out. “He was only trying to fix what you’d done!”

“15 POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR,” Phillips said, his head snapping in Gilbert’s direction. “I hope you don’t speak out of turn again, Mr. Blythe, or I will certainly take more.”

Gilbert opened and closed his mouth, eyes blazing. No one spoke for the rest of class, and Anne only scrawled hurried notes about the uses and dangers of the Stunning spell into her notebook. As class drew to an end, Phillips silently flicked his wand at Jack’s rat, which scrambled to life only to be stuffed into his bag quickly. 

As Anne left with Diana, she threw a look back to Gilbert, who only grimaced in return, a silent acknowledgement of what they both knew to be true. Something was definitely going on with Mr. Phillips.

* * *

On the Friday of the Quidditch match, Anne could hardly contain her excitement and nerves. She had been training for this moment for what seemed like ages, and this would be her opportunity to earn Ravenclaw the Quidditch Cup, and maybe even the House Cup… and beat Gilbert, which was certainly appealing as well.

Her classes felt painfully boring, but she forced herself to pay attention. Anne hadn’t forgotten about the proximity of their OWLs, and if she hoped to have flexibility in her career choice after school, she’d have to perform well. She of course had time to think about life after Hogwarts, but she had previously wanted to work in the Ministry. The idea was less attractive to her after everything that had happened that year. 

Anne pushed every thought of the Ministry or Professor Phillips out of her head as she sat down to dinner that night. The final match would be played after dinner, and Anne could hardly stuff down any food. It didn’t help that Alice kept whisking past, urging Anne to fuel up as much as she could (“But not so much that you’ll throw up as soon as we’re off the ground!”). 

“Anne, calm down, we’ve been practicing a ridiculous amount,” Cole assured, shoveling mashed potato into his mouth. He’d always been good at collecting himself before Quidditch games. 

“That’s the truth,” Diana shook her head. “I hardly see you all anymore. I spend as much time playing Charlie in wizard’s chess as I do hanging out with you. I’ll be glad to get you back, even if it means we lose.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Diana,” Anne said with a wry smile. 

Alice pulled the team from dinner early, as she always did before games, and hurried them off to the pitch. There was silence as they changed into their royal blue Quidditch robes, and Alice collected them together to discuss their strategy one last time.

“Now, we all know the Gryffindors have put together a very good team this year,” Alice started, already looking a bit uncertain. “We have them matched with our Chasers - I’d dare to even say that our Beaters are a bit better than theirs.”

Jack and Dean nudged each other jokingly, looking very proud of themselves. 

“Anne’s a fast one - but Gilbert’s got experience,” Alice continued darkly. “He’s got eyes like a hawk when it comes to the Snitch. Our only hope is to keep him distracted any way we can. And Anne - if there was ever a time for an early Snitch catch, it’s now.”

Anne tried to force her nerves down enough to give Alice a weak nod.

“Other than that, we stick to our plays. Everything just as we do it in practice.”

They followed their captain wordlessly out of the locker room and onto the pitch. Anne had never played at night before - it had been lit up like a football stadium, bright white lights glaring down. She’d never seen the stands _this_ packed before. It looked like students were nearly overflowing from the audience. Several groups were standing around on the ground at the edges of the pitch, having arrived too late to get a seat in the stands. She located Diana, Charlie, and Ka’kwet, and felt a bit better at the sight of them waving, Ravenclaw flags in hand. 

Gilbert was on the pitch, several meters away, discussing with the team. He looked very serious at first, but when he turned and caught her eye, he was all mischief. He gave her a wink before heading up to shake Alice’s hand, who was very businesslike by comparison. Anne shook her head at him, relishing the thought of beating him to the Snitch.

She had a leg over her broom and was waiting anxiously for the whistle when suddenly, Madam Hooch pulled it away from her mouth. She was staring off towards the opposite side of the field, and Anne snapped her head towards where she was looking, wondering what could be holding them up.

A figure was hurrying across the field, silhouetted by the bright stadium lights. She couldn’t see who it was until they were halfway across the field, waving a hand frantically at them, signalling Hooch off.

McGonagall arrived, spoke quickly to Madam Hooch in a hushed voice, and then came over to the team.

“This match has been postponed,” she said, worry written all over her face.

“What?!” Alice and Cole practically yelled in unison. 

“Quidditch matches are never postponed!” Jack added, swinging his leg off his broom.

“I understand that this match was very important, but the safety of our students is more important. Now I suggest you all change and hurry back to your common rooms immediately,” McGonagall barked back, her face very stern. 

She turned back to Madam Hooch, and Alice marched the team back to the locker rooms, bristling with fury. Anne lurked behind, leaning towards McGonagall to try to catch a few words.

“He’s there already… Forbidden Forest… Dumbledore as well.”

She could only catch the few words before McGonagall turned to start back towards the student section and send them away. Anne hastened back to the locker room before McGonagall could notice that she was listening, and pulled off her robes quickly.

When she arrived outside again, an enormous crowd was heading off the pitch at once. Everyone seemed confused, and several people were furious that the match wouldn’t be happening, especially with all the excitement that had been building. One girl was crying. 

Anne was about to join the crowd when she felt someone seize her wrist and tug her into the shadows by the edge of the pitch. She turned to see Gilbert. His face had lost its boyish charm, replaced by a grim expression. 

“Gil,” she gasped. “Did you hear what McGonagall was saying - something in the Forbidden Forest, they’re sending Dumbledore down soon-”

“Anne, it’s got to be something with the Ministry case,” Gilbert responded in a hushed, urgent voice. He was still clinging to her wrist. “They never cancel Quidditch. What else would be putting us all in danger? Just like at the Winter Ball.”

“What would be in the Forbidden Forest?” Anne said breathlessly.

“I don’t know, but Anne - Phillips hasn’t been around all day. Had someone fill in for his first year class. He could be planning something… Dumbledore has no idea.”

“Gilbert, you don’t know that,” Anne frowned, glancing around, concerned someone would see them lingering behind. “He’s with the Ministry, _and_ he’s our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He’s probably investigating whatever it is.”

“We both know he’s up to something bad, Anne,” Gilbert said, a note of pleading in his voice. “If we don’t warn Dumbledore, he could be wrapped up in the same way my father was. If it is just power Phillips wants… sending the most powerful wizard of our age to Azkaban is a start.”

“ _You could be expelled,”_ Anne hissed back. “Dumbledore can handle Phillips.”

“Anne, we don’t know what else - _or who else_ \- is in there. I can’t stand back this time. I just know it. Trust me.”

Anne’s head told her that there were about a million things wrong about what Gilbert was asking her to do, but in her heart, she also knew that something was definitely wrong. But what would a fifteen and sixteen year old wizard be able to do against whatever was in there? 

_Warn Dumbledore_ , Anne thought, although she knew it was more danger than it was worth. 

Ignoring all of her better instincts, she gave Gilbert a small, resigned nod. Masked by the crowd, and the teachers whisking students off at the front, they darted around the corner of the pitch and started towards the forest.

Anne felt her nerves twinging in her stomach, infinitely worse than what she had felt before the Quidditch match. They had no plan and no idea of what they were heading towards in the forest. She’d only been inside a couple times, but that was with Hagrid and Fang.

They managed to reach the edge unseen. Gilbert released Anne’s hand, which he had unknowingly grabbed, and they both pulled out their wands.

“How do we know if he’s been here,” Gilbert whispered. 

This truly revealed how ill thought out Gilbert’s plan had been, and Anne nearly rolled her eyes. He really was a Gryffindor - honorable, good, bold, and incapable of thinking more than one step ahead. She felt very lucky then that she had been studying and practicing so vigilantly for her OWLs - practically since the beginning of fifth year. 

“ _Appare Vestigium,”_ she whispered, and a swirl of gold dust shot out of her wand, encircling them in a five meter radius. At the edge of the circle, something glowed gold, even as the dust faded away.

“God, you’re brilliant,” Gilbert commented as they approached the glowing spot. It was a large footprint, and Anne saw more leading away. 

“Phillips?”

“Could be.”

They followed the path wordlessly, each casting unsure glances over their shoulders. The forest was lit only by starlight and the full moon, hanging ominously over them. Everything was louder than usual - every stray twig that broke in the distance, every hooting owl in the sky made them jump, raising their wands. 

They walked for ten minutes, and the trail started to deepen. Anne no longer needed to recast the tracking spell - these footprints were deeper, set in the muddy ground that had been leftover from the rain the night before. They blended somewhat into the shadows, wearing their dark robes again, and with Gilbert’s dark hair. Anne suddenly wished - for an entirely different reason this time - that her hair wasn’t so bright red and conspicuous. 

“Do you hear that?” Gilbert said suddenly. He threw out a hand in front of Anne to stop her, and she did. In the silence that fell, she could just barely pick it out - a distant voice. It was cold, and made Anne nearly freeze with fear. 

Gilbert raised a finger to his lips, his face reflecting her expression. He seemed to sense her fear, because he grabbed her hand and nodded before advancing slowly, sure not to step on any twigs. 

They were approaching a sort of clearing, which was encircled by trees that offered darkness and cover. In the center of the clearing, Phillips was kneeling. He was facing away from them, and Anne felt a chill down her spine at the sight. 

They were close enough now to just barely make out his words. He seemed to be speaking to someone else - maybe more than one person, but they could only make out his voice. 

“Stay here,” Gilbert breathed.

She grabbed his robes and yanked him to her. “You can’t seriously consider going out there?” she whispered angrily through her teeth. “At best, you’d be expelled, and at worse… you’d be killed.”

“The Forest is on Hogwarts grounds,” Gilbert responded, his voice barely audible. “Dumbledore will be here soon… he would see if something had happened to me… he’d… he’d get help.”

“Just wait until he’s here,” Anne pleaded.

“I have to know, Anne,” he said. “It’ll be just me and him. I’ll know what really happened.”

Gilbert fixed his eyes on Phillips and drew his wand. Anne withdrew her hands from his robes unwillingly, her heart swelling with fear as she stood behind the tree, watching helplessly. 

Gilbert advanced into the clearing, now only a few meters away from Phillips. He stood slowly, still not turning around yet. 

“Students are forbidden from entering the forest,” Phillips snarled. 

Gilbert was silent.

“LEAVE!” he commanded.

“Is that what you told my father when he got in your way? Or did you just decide he was the perfect cover up,” Gilbert ventured boldly, his voice shaking with fury. 

When Phillips turned, a flash of discomfort crossed his face before it was replaced with his cold expression. He looked very different than he did in class - he looked unruly, his eyes wild, his wand raised - Anne might not have recognized him.

“You Blythes think you know everything,” he growled in a low voice.

“I know that he was innocent,” Gilbert continued carefully. “I know that you made him out to be the killer.”

“You make it so easy!” Phillips yelled, and it echoed through the trees. A silent breeze ruffled their robes. Gilbert’s bluff seemed to work - Phillips was unraveling. “He arrived just as it was done… investigating off the clock, as he was so keen to do. So devoted, so _relentless_. A brilliant mind, but not as quick in a duel. He practically offered himself up.”

Anne couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The idea that Gilbert had been right… that Phillips had killed that woman? It was unimaginable. The same killer that had his wand on Gilbert right now. 

“And his son, so like his father, can’t keep his _nose_ out of other people’s business,” Phillips spat, his wand quivering. “You’re a danger to yourself, Blythe, but more importantly, you’re a danger to me.”

Fear flashed in Gilbert’s eyes, but he gripped his wand firmly. Suddenly, he flung his wand arm, shooting a hex at Phillips - which he easily deflected.

“You’re a sixteen year old student,” Phillips snapped, as if offended by Gilbert’s attack. “You can’t fight me. In fact, I’d have killed you already if Dumbledore wasn’t arriving. I reckon he’d never believe that I wasn’t involved. Caught twice with a dead wizard, no, even Fudge would be suspicious. Dumbledore suspects me already. But if I stumbled across an unconscious student… well, he couldn’t blame me for that. I’d have to postpone my plans for tonight… and of course, Obliviate you.”

Gilbert kept his wand up, but couldn’t seem to speak anymore. Phillips went on casually.

“Of course, no one would believe you over me - except Dumbledore, perhaps. Can’t risk anything these days. But, as it seems Dumbledore won’t be arriving for a while, perhaps there is time to teach you the lesson that your father neglected to learn…”

Anne’s entire body was trembling as Phillips raised his wand, threw it in Gilbert’s direction, and whispered, “ _Crucio.”_

Gilbert’s wand went clattering to the ground. Suddenly he was contorting wildly, writhing on the ground, shouting in pain. Phillips advanced on him, twisting his wand. His limbs bent in odd directions, and Anne’s blood went cold at the sight.

Anne had heard of the curse, but to see it in front of her - to see Gilbert on the ground in front of her, howling - she felt as though she would pass out or vomit. She let out a scream of horror, clapping a hand over her mouth immediately.

Phillips’s wand lowered immediately. His head snapped in Anne’s direction.

“Who are you with?” he snarled.

“N-no one,” Gilbert gasped.

“ _Stupefy_ ,” Phillips said lazily, and Gilbert’s head dropped to the ground. Phillips approached, and Anne felt her heart drop to her stomach. 

“ _Homenum Revelio_ ,” Phillips muttered. Anne recognized the spell as he said it. Realizing that her cover would be blown regardless, she leapt out from behind the tree. 

“ _Expelliarmus!”_ she shouted, but Phillips blocked her spell. 

Anne had always been skilled with protective spells, but this was another realm. She was no longer practicing cheerfully with Diana in Charms. She was fighting a Dark wizard - who she had thought was her professor, five minutes ago - and one of her best friends was lying motionless on the ground on her left. If she let a single spell past, she could die.

“ _Protego,”_ Anne cried, again and again, as Phillips sent sparks shooting towards her. She felt her strength waning. Tears streamed down her face, and she backed away, deflecting each spell with everything she had.

She was sinking to her knees, and he was getting closer. She felt her vision blurring, darkening. Anne was thinking hopelessly that she couldn’t block another spell when she realized that his wand wasn’t pointed at her anymore. He was casting spells at someone far behind her, and giant sparks of light were illuminating the clearing.

Anne could hardly see, but was vaguely aware of where Gilbert was, and crawled towards him. She could hear the cracking of spells behind her, but that was of no concern to her anymore. She blinked away the blurriness of her vision, finally reaching him. She reached up to his face with both hands, shaking him, but he gave no response.

“No, no, no,” she muttered, tears spilling down. She reached for her wand and pointed it at his heart.

“ _Ennervate_ ,” Anne whispered. “ _Ennervate_ … please, Gil… _ennervate!_ ”

She reached up and pressed her lips fervently to his. Anne was only distantly aware of what was happening - she could focus only on what was immediately in front of her, and it seemed in the moment like he was gone, that the pain of the Cruciatus Curse had reduced him to nothing.

Then she felt his lips pressing back against hers, and the whole world melted away. She pulled away, still crying. 

“Y-you scared me,” she managed to say, smoothing the hair away from his face. “I thought you were dead.”

“It’s okay,” Gilbert breathed, his eyes fluttering. “I’m alive now.”

Anne lifted her head. She saw a figure, fighting Phillips. Spells bounced between him and the figure wildly, but Phillips was retreating, his face contorted with concentration.

Then, her vision blurred and darkened one last time, and her head dropped to the ground beside him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter but it was really difficult to write, and I'm still not really sure about it haha. Anyways, just one more chapter left... then I think I'll probably start on a sequel, yay! I wouldn't be writing this at all without all your wonderful support, so thank you so much for everything. I've had so much fun getting back into HP and writing, and I hope this story has given you something to pass your time with during all of this :)
> 
> also, I have the final chapter written and ready to post tomorrow!


	12. The Hogwarts Express

Anne opened her eyes slowly and reluctantly. There was sunlight filtering into the room, right into her eyes, interrupting her from what she thought was a pleasant dream. She took a deep breath in and stretched, then rolled her head to the side.

Suddenly she was unsure of her surroundings, bolting upright. Anne rubbed her eyes, and everything came slowly into focus. She was in the hospital wing. To her right was a pile of candies and cards. Anne recognized the sweets Cole always bought for her birthdays, and the loopy penmanship of Diana on one of the notes. 

On her left there was a curtain dividing her from the only other bed that seemed to be occupied in the hospital wing. _Gilbert?_ Anne wondered with uncertainty. 

The thought of him recalled the events that had landed them in the hospital wing to begin with. Anne felt a sudden mixture of emotions swirling inside of her… concern, relief, fury…

She landed on fury, and was about to get up from the bed and rip the curtain away to give him a piece of her mind when Madam Pomfrey came rushing in and she thought better of it.

Gilbert… what an _idiot!_ How had she let him drag her out there, how had she let him face Phillips alone? He could have been dead right now, and then what would she do… what would she have ever done if he had died? 

“Sit, won’t you!” Madam Pomfrey urged, pushing Anne back onto the bed. “He’s still asleep, anyways, and you should be as well. Maybe if the two of you listened to my instructions, you wouldn’t be in here every other day…”

“How long has it been?” Anne asked quickly.

“A few days,” Madam Pomfrey responded irritably.

Anne plopped back on the hospital bed reluctantly, still eyeing that curtain. “I need to speak to Dumbledore immediately,” she requested.

“Oh, really, you need to speak to Dumbledore,” Madam Pomfrey said in an affronted tone, shaking her head angrily. “The nerve! No, you’ll be sitting right here and waiting until I clear you for visitors first.”

“Actually, Poppy, I must insist on speaking to Miss Shirley,” came a wizened voice. Dumbledore strode into view.

“Albus - I … she’s very weak still!”

“I won’t be long,” Dumbledore replied, bowing his head meaningfully. Madam Pomfrey’s face twisted uncomfortably but she left the hospital wing with a huff.

“Professor,” Anne said, scooting herself upright. “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry about all of it, but you have to know… we were trying to stop him, to warn you! We’d been suspecting it all year, we just… I don’t know why I let him talk me into going, we should’ve gone straight to your office - please, you can’t expel us!”

Dumbledore lifted a hand to stop her, his eyes crinkling with what appeared to be a smile. Anne’s voice faltered. Was he not going to expel them? She had never known of a better reason to expel two students than the blatant rule breaking that had occurred on the night of the Quidditch match.

“I am aware of what you knew about our former professor. I had suspected the same, and intended to come well equipped… although you both seemed to be holding your own quite well, for a pair of fifth years,” he gave a slightly strained smile. “As for your rash behavior… I understand the insanity of the actions we do for love.”

Dumbledore waved his hand, and the curtain beside Anne whisked away. Gilbert was there, still asleep. His wrist and ankle were wrapped, and Anne saw bruises flowering on his arms. She ripped her eyes away and cleared her throat.

“It wasn’t - I’m not… he’s my friend,” she sputtered, shifting uncomfortably. 

“Ah yes,” Dumbledore said knowingly, taking a seat in a chair beside Anne’s bed. He snapped his fingers, and the curtain returned to its former state. “So he is.”

“You’re not expelling us?” Anne said, choosing her words carefully, not wanting to protest his choice. “But we broke at least fifty school rules.”

“Indeed,” Dumbledore continued. “But had the Ministry not failed us by allowing Dark wizards to infiltrate Hogwarts in the first place, those actions would never have occurred. It was Fudge, who failed to identify him, and I, who took too long to find the evidence to stop him.”

“It was you that found us.”

“Yes, I did. You were very brave, holding him off as long as you did.”

“And Phillips? Is he gone?” Anne asked earnestly.

“Brought to Azkaban, awaiting his trial,” Dumbledore said darkly. “Fudge could hardly believe me, but he changed his mind after a little visit with our old professor.”

“S-so are they gone? The Dark wizards, I mean… and Professor Stacy? Where is she?”

“Ah,” Dumbledore said in a low voice. “There were certain things we were able to extract from Phillips, one of them being the location of our Professor Stacy. They were hoping she could provide information on how they could get to me, I’m afraid.”

“So he wasn’t alone?”

“I find that Dark wizards hardly ever work alone. So long as there is power in this world, there will be wizards who seek to take it,” Dumbledore said, looking grim behind his half-moon spectacles. “The Ministry is launching a full investigation on Phillips, although he doesn’t seem to have all the information we would need. I’m afraid he was only a small part of a much larger operation.”

Anne shuddered at the thought of what Phillips may have been part of, and what could still be out there now. “Will he go to Azkaban?”

“Certainly,” Dumbledore said with conviction. “And I’m sure your… friend, Mr. Blythe, will be elated to hear that his father has since been vindicated.”

“John Blythe has left Azkaban?” Anne repeated in disbelief, something warm spreading inside her.

Dumbledore smiled in confirmation. 

“W-well, what about the Quidditch Cup?”

She closed her mouth immediately, unsure of how she let such an insignificant thing slip out while speaking to her Headmaster, but Dumbledore looked very amused.

“It will take place in a couple of days. I think you’ll find that your Quidditch team will be quite relieved that they’ll have their Seeker back,” Dumbledore said, gesturing to a stack of letters that Anne knew could only be from Alice and the team. 

“Now, try to rest, Miss Shirley. Your team will surely need you at your strongest,” Dumbledore said, and left her before she could utter another word. 

* * *

The next few days were some of the best of Anne’s life. Professor Stacy returned to the school, and everyone was extremely happy for her return. Anne spent many afternoons helping her restore her classroom, and asking about what had happened to her when she had been taken. Professor Stacy would just smile sadly, and tell her that she wouldn’t dream of upsetting her with the details of it.

News of Phillips spread like wildfire through the school, and stories of Anne and Gilbert’s heroics became wildly exaggerated until Anne stopped bothering to tell the real story and ignored the rumors altogether. It felt really good to return to normalcy, practicing extra hard for the Quidditch Cup game that was _finally_ happening. She had seen Gilbert a couple times, but never for long enough to really talk about what happened. He left school for a few days once he woke up to visit his father, who had moved back to their home. Furthermore, neither of them particularly wanted to relive the events of that night - Anne had let one specific part of it slip her mind altogether. She wasn’t sure what had come over her, and just the thought of bringing it up to Gilbert made her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

Diana, Cole, and even Charlie fussed over her nonstop once she was released from the hospital wing, demanding that she tell them everything. Anne felt a bit bad that she had kept her and Gilbert’s conspiring a secret all year, but they didn’t judge her for it. They listened avidly to everything, commenting occasionally, especially after Anne revealed why and what they had discovered when they broke into Phillips’ office. She, of course, left that one embarrassing moment between her and Gilbert out of her retellings. Diana clutched Anne’s hand the entire time, and Charlie looked awestruck when she told them about the forest.

“We were so worried when we couldn’t find you,” Diana had said about that night. “The whole common room was on lockdown, it was scary.”

Anne retold the story in a condensed version to the team, with Cole joining in now to exaggerate certain parts for dramatic effect. Alice coaxed them back to practicing afterwards, inclined to make up for the lost time when Anne was in the hospital wing. 

“Miles will be returning to Hogwarts next year, now that everything’s been cleared up,” Alice said, flying beside Anne as they did warm up laps around the pitch. Anne’s face fell a little bit at the realization that she wouldn’t be on the team anymore.

“But, we all really want you to stay on, of course,” Alice added quickly, seeing Anne’s expression. “Belle and Dean are both in their last year. Ever thought about being a Chaser, Anne?”

Anne grinned back at Alice, the thought of a permanent spot on the Quidditch team making her heart leap.

When the day of the final Quidditch match arrived, Anne felt good to be focused on only that for the first time since she’d joined the team. The match was scheduled for that Friday afternoon, and classes ended a bit early to allow the students time to rush to the pitch to get good spots (much to the dismay of her professors, who were trying to cram in last-minute OWL preparation).

As the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors took the field after a particularly lengthy pep-talk by Alice, Anne felt confident. Last time she’d been about to take on the Gryffindors, she sort of ended up fighting a Dark wizard. What was Gilbert Blythe’s team in comparison to that?

Hooch blew the whistle, and they took to the air. Anne and Gilbert soared up above the match as always, and the familiar sound of Moody Spurgeon’s voice echoing through the air made Anne’s heart beat faster with the excitement of a match:

“Now, everyone, here’s the match we’ve been waiting all too long for. Last time, it sort of got interrupted by our haywire Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, who ended up being more Dark than Defense, but we should be back to normal now - _ouch_ \- it’s topical, Professor, I’m only trying to inform the crowd about the match!”

Below Anne, she saw only a blur of blue and scarlet as the Quaffle passed from Jane to Delphine to Cole to Helena - no sign of the Snitch though. Anne cast a glance at Gilbert, who looked very focused. The fleeting thought of his motionless body on the ground that night, contorting with pain, overcame her briefly. She shook it away, reminded herself that he was here, and okay, and probably going to beat her if she didn’t focus too.

“Quaffle in Gryffindor possession, Jane Andrews passes to Michael Finnigan - he’s approaching the scoring zone - _AH!_ A Bludger to the arm, great shot by Jack Wallace of Ravenclaw… now it’s Delphine Lacroix with the Quaffle.”

Moody’s voice was distant as Anne circled above the pitch. She lowered slightly, hoping it would allow her to locate the Snitch faster, but it still wasn’t in sight.

The sun was blazing overhead - the spring weather was a strong contrast to the cold that Anne had played in during her first game. She felt her Quidditch robes sticking to her back, and up higher in the air, the sun was even stronger on her face. 

Cole scored for Ravenclaw, but Jane immediately shot back and scored for Gryffindor. The game stayed tight for the next twenty minutes or so… Anne was growing tired of hanging above the pitch, waiting for a glimpse of gold to point her in the right direction. Moody’s voice rang out, signifying that Gryffindor led, 80 - 60.

It was going to come down to her and Gilbert, Anne had known that from the start. She was a remarkable Seeker given the amount of training she had, but Gilbert was one of the best flyers Hogwarts had seen in many years. She’d have to resort to some other way, she’d need to distract him. 

She saw Gilbert’s broom jerk right out of the corner of her eye, and when she met his eyes, she saw him watching her carefully. His gaze was calculated, and she reminded herself that on the field, they were rivals, and Gilbert wouldn’t let his guard down. Even for her. 

Anne knew what that look meant, and she went diving past him immediately, hoping with all her heart that she’d catch a glimpse of what he had clearly seen on the way down. To her luck, she did - the Snitch was diving ahead of her by the edge of the pitch, and she could feel Gilbert approaching at her side. 

“You can’t outrun me, Shirley,” she could hear him call out, voice muffled by the wind.

Anne still had a bit of an edge on him, but he was right - the Comet Two-Ninety was faster than Miles’ Cleansweep… she’d need to be smart about this. She dipped in front of him, trying to cut off his path, still keeping both eyes on the Snitch.

Gilbert darted to the left and right, trying to find a path past her so that they were shoulder-to-shoulder. But Anne anticipated every move, yanking her broom so that she stayed directly in front of him. It was distracting, though, to try to focus on this and the Snitch all at once, and she could see it drifting further away.

A Bludger came soaring out of nowhere, narrowly missing Anne’s outstretched arm. She pulled back slightly to prevent it from hitting her, and it slid past her at Gilbert. He did a barrel roll to avoid it, and took the opportunity to finally catch up to Anne.

“Shove off, Gil!” Anne snapped through her teeth, trying to push him away, but he pressed back with equal force. She could see him grinning in her peripheral, which only made her more annoyed, more eager to beat him. 

Belle scored for Ravenclaw, but very few people were watching the Chasers by now. Moody announced the score when the Quaffle made it through a hoop, but the rest of his commentary was focused on Anne and Gilbert. Even Cole and Delphine threw glances over their shoulders at them as they sped across the field with the Quaffle. Jack and Dean were now directing more Bludgers at Gilbert than at the Gryffindor Chasers, allowing Jane and Michael more of an opening to shoot - but it wouldn’t matter if Gilbert or Anne made it to the Snitch anyways.

Anne caught Alice’s eye for a split second as she rounded a corner with Gilbert. She looked frantic as she swatted away the Quaffle, mouthing something to Anne that she couldn’t quite register. 

Gilbert was edging forward now, his speed on a broom just enough to overcome Anne’s. It would only be a matter of moments until his hand would close around the Snitch, Anne knew that. But she was a Ravenclaw, she was cleverer… she knew it would take some other type of plan, some new strategy, or the game would be lost.

She caught Dean’s eye. He was brandishing his bat, looking expectantly at Anne. She nodded, pointed to her arm, and then to Gilbert. Dean winked in response, and Anne flew to Gilbert’s opposite side in preparation.

Just as Dean swung at the Bludger, Anne shoved at Gilbert, sending him off course towards the Bludger, and lunging towards the Snitch. She was inches away from it, her fingers outstretched, but Gilbert had anticipated her move and lunged too. They were both so eager to grab it that they went toppling off their brooms and to the ground below, falling a meter onto the grass.

“The Snitch has been caught!” Moody shouted over the speaker. “Er - I’m not sure who caught it… but it’s certainly been caught!”

Anne opened her eyes, feeling something flitting under her fingers. She looked up to where she felt it. Gilbert was lying beside her on his back, his eyes fluttering open. His right arm was outstretched, and Anne’s left was over his. Between their hands, the Snitch was buzzing. 

“Which one of us had it first?” Anne muttered weakly. The fall had knocked the wind out of both of them, but they were otherwise okay. She could feel her face turning red and wanted desperately to pull her hand away, but didn’t want to let go of the Snitch.

“I guess they’ll have to check its memory,” Gilbert mumbled back, sounding kind of dazed. He hadn’t moved. “Try not to kiss me, Shirley, as I know you tend to do when I’m in this state.”

Anne yanked her hand away hotly, gripping the Snitch and stumbling to her feet. Madam Hooch and several other teachers crowded around them, and Anne saw the rest of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor teams touching down to the ground nearby and hurrying over.

“Which one of you had it first?” Hooch asked hastily. 

“I - er, we’re not exactly sure,” Anne mumbled back. 

“Minerva, check its memory,” she replied, grabbing the Snitch from Anne and handing it off to McGonagall. Anne had forgotten - flesh memories. Every Snitch had them, to tell who had caught it first.

McGonagall pulled out her wand, tapped it to the cold metal of the Snitch, and whispered something Anne couldn’t make out over the shouts of the crowd. 

“It’s… it’s Ravenclaw,” McGonagall said, looking up at Anne in disbelief. 

Gilbert, who had sat up, just chuckled wryly. “You did it, Carrots.”

Anne’s jaw had dropped. She could hear Moody shouting her name, she could hear the deafening shouts of the Ravenclaws as they took to the field, crushing her with hugs and yells. Alice was elated, Cole and Delphine paraded Anne back to the common room. 

The entirety of Ravenclaw tower was alive with celebration until the early morning. Flitwick eventually arrived to shut them all up around 1 in the morning, and they retired to their rooms. Anne had enjoyed playing her part in finally bringing some pride to Ravenclaw - Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup for the three years prior - but was happy to return to their dormitory, which was quiet with just the few of them.

“You were amazing, Anne - you’re a prodigy!” Diana mused.

“It was Dean, not me,” Anne responded modestly, a smile creeping onto her face. “Gilbert would’ve beat me to it otherwise. Plus we caught it at the same time.”

“But you didn’t!” Diana sang. “You were a split second faster!”

They danced around the common room, letting out the last of their energy before collapsing finally into their beds, dreams of winning the House cup very solidly ingrained into their minds as they fell quickly to sleep. 

* * *

The final month of school went very quickly. The weather was beautiful, and they spent most of their time outside. Charlie and Cole had invented some sort of game that resembled Muggle frisbee (with some added magical elements), and they recruited some Hufflepuff and Gryffindors to play with them nearly every afternoon.

Gilbert and Anne began working together again on their OWL preparation, sitting together in the sunshine and watching the others play as they flipped through textbooks. Anne had coaxed Gilbert into taking his studying a bit more seriously - she knew he had the potential to do very well on his OWLs - but he still slipped off to join the game after an hour or two. Neither of them had mentioned anything about that night in the forest since Gilbert’s teasing after the game - although Anne asked about Gilbert’s father, who had returned to work recently and was doing well.

When the exams came, they did very well. Anne and Gilbert felt quite confident with their performance on the practical section, and the written sections had been a breeze. Anne was only a bit unhappy with Divination - Trelawney had looked a bit suspicious about Anne’s largely fabricated predictions in the crystal ball - but she didn’t care much about that class anyways. Cole and Diana felt confident as well, and even Charlie was sure that he’d passed enough of his.

The end of the year came sooner than Anne would’ve liked. She was a star among the Ravenclaws, and Alice had promised her a spot on the team next year as a Chaser, saying that she’d technically have to try out (but winking very conspicuously). With their Ordinary Wizarding Levels behind them, school was much less of a concern, and Anne spent long nights playing Exploding Snap and wizard’s chess with her friends in the common rooms, and passed the afternoons with Gilbert or Cole on the Quidditch pitch. Everything felt so easy.

But as the end-of-year feast began, Anne reluctantly confronted the reality that her fifth year was over. Dumbledore took to the podium as always to deliver his speech. He was wearing long, powder-blue robes and smiling brightly.

“Students, it is with great sorrow that we announce the end of another wonderful year,” he began, silencing the chatter of the Great Hall. “It has not been easy, I know, but we can appreciate that much of what we lost has been found again.” He turned his head to glance at Professor Stacy, who was beaming.

“I believe that there will be difficulty in the coming years, but that you will find that Hogwarts will always be a place where students will be given support, and the opportunity to learn. And that there will be people that are brave enough to seek out danger, and others clever enough to overcome it.” Anne could have sworn that Dumbledore’s eyes flickered between her and Gilbert. “And of course, we must reveal the winners of the House Cup. Let’s not delay - our frontrunner, with four hundred and thirty-five points….”

With a sweeping wave of Dumbledore’s arm, the banners behind the teacher’s table flashed sapphire and bronze, and the Ravenclaws erupted with louder cheers than Anne had ever heard from her House before. It had been many years since the House Cup had been won by anyone besides Gryffindor or Slytherin. The Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors (and even several Slytherins) clapped politely. Anne caught Gilbert’s eye and winked smugly, and he just shook his head back at her, grinning.

The golden plates filled with food and their goblets became heavy with drink. Anne ate and laughed with her friends until she felt like she couldn’t eat another bite. More than ever, she felt at home, and like she could finally let go of the heaviness that had lingered in her heart for the whole year. 

* * *

Anne had never hated the idea of boarding the Hogwarts Express as much as she did the following morning. She packed quickly, and passed a lot of the morning visiting with Professor Stacy one last time, and then stopped by Hagrid’s. She walked with Diana and the others to the chariots, staring off into the distance, lost in thought until they arrived at the platform.

“We’re going to say goodbye to a couple more people,” Cole muttered to Anne. He and Diana were looking over to where Jerry and Eliot were standing with a couple others by the train. “Save us a compartment?”

Anne’s eyes flickered between Eliot and Cole. “Of course,” she laughed, and they hurried off.

Anne hauled her trunk onto the compartment and headed down the aisle in search of a free spot for her and the others. She stumbled to a stop when she saw Gilbert, sitting alone in a compartment, staring out the window.

Anne knocked quietly and slid the door open. “Mind if I join?”

Gilbert gave a small start, and his mouth curved up slightly at the sight of her. “Door’s always open for you, Carrots.”

Anne rolled her eyes but slipped in, closing the door behind her and sitting beside him. “Why aren’t you out there saying goodbye? I’m sure there are a lot of people who would’ve wanted to talk to you.”

Gilbert gave a small shrug, glancing out the window again. “I’m not the best at goodbyes.”

“Who knew you were so sentimental,” Anne giggled.

“I’m not!” he said defensively. “Maybe I just wanted to get you alone.”

“Oh,” Anne said, raising her eyebrows. “And why’s that?”

“Well, I haven’t really gotten the chance to speak with you about anything beside OWLs and Quidditch for the last month,” Gilbert huffed. 

Anne averted her eyes, holding her breath. “Okay.”

“Anne, you can keep pretending I don’t like you, but we both know that’s not true,” he said, lowering his head slightly to catch her eye again. “And I know you like me too.”

“I mean, maybe,” Anne said slowly. She was unsure if she wanted to bolt, debating how stupid that would look.

“Maybe?” he laughed. “All I get is a maybe? After everything that we’ve-”

And then Anne shut him up. She’d always been good at that.

This time was very different from how it was in the forest. It was softer at first, and then she felt him reach up and tangle his fingers in her hair, and wondered why she hadn’t done this much, much sooner. She realized vaguely that now she _definitely_ couldn’t pretend that there was nothing between them, but none of that seemed important right now. They were still them. That had always made sense to her. 

Moments later, the door of the compartment creaked slightly and they sprang apart. Anne’s head snapped around to see Diana, Cole, Charlie, and Jerry grinning at them from the corridor. She felt her face flush, and thought she had probably turned about as red as her hair.

“Are we interrupting?” Cole managed to say, all of them stifling laughter. 

“Of course not,” Gilbert sputtered. Anne looked over to him and felt even hotter at the sight of his slightly swollen lips. 

“Good,” Diana said with a smirk, and they all filed in, stuffing themselves into the compartment. Cole sat between Anne and Gilbert, who were plastered to opposite sides of the seat. He glanced deviously at Anne, but said nothing. 

Soon the compartment was buzzing with their excited babble about the year, what they expected for their sixth year, and what they’d be doing over the summer. The trolley came and they all loaded up on sweets, and they even broke out a few of Charlie’s game sets from his trunk to play. 

When Anne finally met Gilbert’s eyes, he grinned back at her, looking happier than she had seen him all year.

fin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's over! I so loved writing this & I hope this extra long chapter was a good conclusion for you all. I know that the beginning (and lots of parts of this fic) leaned a lot into the original HP plot, but I sort of love those parts of the books. I've started to plan what might come next, if people would want a sequel. I also just want to say thank you so much to the people who have commented, and especially the people who comment on every chapter - those kind words have literally been the absolute best & I really hope that you've enjoyed the story as much as I've loved writing it. :)  
> If I do end up with a sequel, I'll be sure to update this fic and let you all know!


	13. Afterword

Hi, here's a short little chapter at the end to let everyone know that I've started posting for the sequel! You can access it as the second part of this series or with this link: <https://archiveofourown.org/works/23922940/chapters/57526609>

I also want to say thank you to so much to the people who commented and encouraged me to continue writing this. I've had so much fun merging the Harry Potter and AWAE worlds and fitting all the pieces together for this work! I know these last weeks have been really hard for us all with quarantine, so I hope that reading this has occupied you or cheered you up just a little while we're all in this sort of difficult time together. 

Anyways, thanks so much for reading this far, and I hope you'll take a look at the sequel too!

-rosethrn


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